Dragon Ball 13th: The Rising Sun
by C4taphract
Summary: Conflict is rising in the north, war is breathing near, and action is imminent. In this scenario, we see an entirely new universe, where Humans, Namekians, Saiyans and various other races all inhabit the same planet. Not much is known about their past, however, as it'll only unfold gradually throughout the upcoming times.
1. Chapter 1

**Dragon Ball 13th: The Rising Sun**

by: Supr

 **A/N:** Writing again, slowly. Switching to google docs for story editing purposes. Had a few inspirations, took tons of motivation. I eventually got it. So sit back and enjoy.  
**"ARCOSIAN" WILL BE THE NAME FOR FRIEZA'S RACE**

Credit to Brii-Chan, Crimson and CalveronGaming for being the story editor.

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball, that belongs to Akira Toriyama.

 **Edit:** I've always disliked this chapter no matter how much I've edited it. So once and for all, I've finally decided to put an end to it all with an edit to end all edits. Feel free to spot anything that seems off. It would be greatly appreciated.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Above the towering trees existed a full landscape of tightly packed coniferous trees, covering it like a thick blanket made of green. Underneath the dense forest was almost contrary to the world above, with a dirt ground comprised of dead fir needles and wide tree stems coming in different shapes and sizes. The sound of birds sang throughout the broad forest, as many species roamed the high branches that neighbored each other closely. The sun peaked at the center of the sky, and lit the ground with its warming touch, making it a fine mid-summer temperature upon the surface; an ideal moment for the prey to swing on by.

A fine boar trotted through the dark shades of the woods, walking by unnoticeably and vacant of others. Even the birds, as the chirping was reduced to a near-noiseless sound from across the forest. The furry beast kept on moving onward like any other animal within this region, wandering around like any other sentient creature. Little did it know that it was about to become another seven-course meal, especially with the meat it was packing. This wasn't any ordinary boar; it was a massive thing, just waiting to be slaughtered and stripped of its tasty features.

 _ **Sling!**_

The boar's head rolled along the ground and clunked against a tree, with the body remaining still and standing like a statue. After a moment, the large pig fell over its side and hit the dirt ground, making a deep thumping sound upon impact, followed by the unsheathing of a machete over to the side of the dead boar. As the animal lay dead, a man turned around and approached the deceased creature, beheaded cleanly as the neck stump appeared to be flat. The tall, lean man with long flowing blond hair formulated a satisfying smile upon his lips, knowing he had caught a remarkable catch for the day. His skills had surely developed into a profession over his years of hunting wild animals. It's how he lived predominantly, unlike those city dwellers who walk to a market to buy all of their food rather than earn it with hard work.

Ryal preferred to earn everything he gets, as freebies have never done any good for the greater. He was independent, always getting things done on his own. That's how he rolls, remaining at the top of the food chain where he lives.

The sounds of flapping and cries can be heard from below, echoing throughout the trees left and right, alerting Ryal to move along quickly. It wasn't an excellent idea to stick around with predatory birds, so he lifted the dead boar and threw it over his left shoulder before taking off towards the cottage located miles away. To him, it wasn't a big deal for the matter. He had the whole area memorized by heart, knowing all the places and routes, the locations of ideal hunting areas and whatnot. He lived here for many years, exploring the different locations nearly every other day. It was another preference, knowing all the places in the back of his mind. It made his work a lot easier over the course of days and weeks.

After a few minutes had gone by, Ryal set foot inside his cottage located uphill from a nearby lake with clear, calm waters as the wind current was slow and subtle. He walked over to a workbench and dumped the dead boar onto it before traveling over to the kitchen, gathering the necessary tools to skin the oversized thing and have it for dinner. Here he had access to freely do whatever he desires, with no city nearby or even a neighbor. Nobody was there to bother him. Not a single soul within a radius several miles wide was there to pester him.

A photo of Ryal's parents sat next to the workbench on a side table, showing a large, robust man on the right, with a short, endomorphic female on the left. His parents had lived similar lives, and here they looked like true, self-sustaining individuals; their facial expressions were gruff, with the man physically conditioned to the brim and the woman looking like no slouch either. Within the bottom center of the picture displayed a young child of prepubescent age, with sharp blue eyes and a blond mop head like he hadn't combed his hair in weeks. It reminded him of the memories when he would go outside with his father to hunt for prey. They're like partners in hunting, two of a kind on a mission to bring home the most satisfying feast for the rest. The joy that it brought before and after was remarkable, literally causing the young man to break a faint smile as he continued cutting open his meat. Those were the days, the days that came and went before time took its change and made its lasting impact on Ryal, along with the rest of the family.

Hours later, the man had already finished up his meal and threw the towel after cleaning the last remaining dish. The tall lad walked over to his bedroom, consisting of a single bed in the corner of the petite room and a night table next to it with a lamp sitting atop of it. He looked over to the other end of the room, which was a wide open flat space with a door handle on a closet installed into the wall. Quickly, Ryal pulled it open and began changing into cleaner clothes. He threw on a new pair of white gi pants and pulled over a red t-shirt before sliding his arms through a black gi tunic over top the shirt. Lastly, he reached for his black belt and tied it around his waist, leaving a knot right in the center of the body. He then wrapped much of his hair into a ponytail, useful for keeping his hair out of his face. This is what he wore every day, something simple and easy. He lived off by himself, after all, nothing to worry about when it comes to appearance.

The young lad came out the back door of his cottage and traveled downhill towards the fishing stretch; a long rocky chunk of land that extended outwards into the lake. The stretch was infested with live fish swimming through the calm waters silently as the wind breeze blew soft ripples through the liquid surface of the lake. Calm and subtle, a place that can define the meaning of peace. Upon arriving at the fishing stretch, Ryal lowered himself to the ground and crossed his legs together, slowly letting his shoulders drop from tight to ease, letting the body slack from the upbeat pace of the thriving midday. His eyes steadily became narrow, eventually closing as his hands rested with the palms facing up. This was the state of meditation, an ideal of nondisturbance. The scenery, fulfilled with thriving life and the peaceful sensation made it easy to simply let the thoughts go, sinking down and down, until they gracefully touched the lakebed of the serene waters — or so that's how he imagined it, figuratively. To the young lad, it's a stress reliever put bluntly. Every bit of training needed a bit of self-control, a training of the mind to match the body. It was not to surpass one another and dominate, but to seek unity in mind and body. His father's words had always described that a genuine warrior possesses strength equal to the mind, always racing as one.

A low rumble came in like a sudden wave from the north, rippling the water, quivering the tree-dwelling rodents before they rushed into their holes, and causing the trees to waver eccentrically. Birds were heard flapping their wings in packs as they took off towards the west as if to escape from something. Ryal raised a brow as he levitated off the ground, eventually reaching the treetops as he opened an eye and scanned the landscape. The distant greenery began toppling over, opening a thick path clear from below. Other paths in the distance began to open from the horizon as the first one headed towards the cottage. Intrigued, the blond lad exited his meditation state and ran uphill, feeling the ground shake more violently and the trees to sway harshly. He arrived at the cottage deck, catching the unorthodox sound of machinery nearby, plowing through trees to emit the sounds of breaking branches and loud thumps that shook the ground vigorously. This was definitely the sign of not only one newcomer, but a barrage of people causing massive disturbances as they came.

Tightening his fists, Ryal gritted his teeth at the presence of these unknown trespassers. What were they doing here? Especially with all this noise and destruction, as if they're angered over a particular thing. Why did it have to affect him along with his home and the life that existed here?

Suddenly, the thick huddled trees bordering the open field around the cottage broke down. In the middle part of the path that formed from these newcomers existed a hovering contraption, moving along the ground towards the cottage deck. The thing must have been five to ten meters tall, with a thin, long barrel at the top pointed towards Ryal. It was gray in color, in the shape of an upside down bowl with a flat plate on top, which spun at ludicrous speeds to cut down the tree branches in the way like a razor. Below the spinning razor dish were lizard humanoid-like creatures defined with cold colors and an appearance that sent shivers down the spine of any man. The first thought that came into the mind of the warrior, was that these were the lizard people of the north. From the stories he heard from his father, they're aggressive and territorial, seeking out for power continuously. It was ill-fitting to see them down this far, but nonetheless, a threat.

From the large contraption, the barrel on the top shot a thin, electric bullet straight at the deck. Upon seeing this, Ryal launched himself out of the path before impact. The bullet landed on a deck railing, setting off an explosion that left a gaping hole at the corner of the house, with black cooked shards on the ends of the torn off wood materials that flew everywhere. Ryal, who was levitating high up in the sky practically went wide-eyed at the results of the blast, stirring up fear and anger inside of him. Looking over to the side, was the contraption continuing to inch forward like nothing had ever happened as if the house he had forged with his own hands was simply another tree, an object like any other that shared the same consequences.

Ryal grimaced, fixing his attention over to the floating tank. Attempting to calm himself down, the man lowered himself down into the open field between the deck and the ice people, touching his heels to the ground and standing there.

"Who are you!?" He exclaimed.

One of the lizard people, holding a staff made of compact ice and some sort of purple substance, pointed the end of his weapon and fired another bolt of electricity straight at the tall lad. Having learned from the previous experience, Ryal ran forward and ducked under the bolt, letting it land on the side of the deck once again. He continued to charge at the tank, arriving in a matter of milliseconds. He leaped forward towards the contraption, looking down at the guards and the leading man in the front holding a staff.

Ryal cried out in anger, unsheathing his machete and slicing the staff in half, causing small purple particles to fly outwards. Ryal landed onto the contraption a few feet away from the ice man before turning around, making eye contact with the lizard thing. Its eyes were bloodshot with fury. Bloodlust radiated from the foreigner, powerful enough to seep into Ryal's skin and strike fear in his chest. It was something else entirely, almost like staring into the ugly face of death himself.

"Bastard! You broke my wand!"

The words rang in his ears. The sound was hideous, distinguishable to anything he's ever listened too. Peculiar to say the least, had he ever thought that such a vibration in the air ever existed.

Before he came to his senses, a hand slammed into Ryal's cheek, sending him straight down the open field for many yards to go. Swiftly, the man recovered from his fall and regained his posture. One of the guards had already leaped off of the hovering vehicle, however, surprising Ryal as a fist pounded into his stomach, making him double over in pain. The blond fighter looked up towards the cold creature as he immediately covered the point of impact, watching the thing retreat back to the tank. What was he running away for? The hit was mediocre at best, but he had an excellent opening for another attack.

Then it came to him, Ryal found himself kneeling on the ground, gasping for air. Checking his midsection, he lifted his hand from the wounded area and found blood spilling from the gaping hole in his stomach. His vision gradually became blurry as his body experienced a numbness that spread outwards like a rapid virus. His movement instantaneously turned sluggish, and his conscience was drifting away from his thought process. Anything that he was thinking about before practically disappeared, as drowsiness enveloped his body like a thick blanket, bribing him to fall into an everlasting sleep that would rid of the entire course of his future...

. . .

Ryal's eyes shot open, his gaze directly facing the overcast sky. The light managed to make his eyes squint slightly, though it only prompted him to turn away towards the dirt ground. Quickly, the blond lad felt the cold air breeze through his skin and hit the bone, automatically bringing to the question of his whereabouts. Confused, Ryal began to look left and right, noticing the surrounding trees and familiar landscape. He certainly wasn't far from home, but nothing of the location seemed to be of his knowledge, only similar. However, his concern drifted over to something even more engrossing.

It was the shelter that was set up merely a few yards away, along with a campfire emitting mild heat. Ryal blinked a few times, making out what was going on. His whereabouts weren't anywhere to his knowledge, and his memories of previous things were dim and cloudy. Slowly, he began to get a feel of himself, attempting to check his own condition. He retracted his legs, feeling nothing of soreness or pain. He bent his arms tightly without restraint. Afterward, he sat up, hugging his knees whilst feeling no pain to his surprise.

 _No pain_ , he thought, backtracking his thoughts before his unconsciousness. He knew there were pain and loss. He knew it was there, the destruction of his home, with his memories alongside it. The bizarre contraption that tore apart the forest wherever it went, and those things. He couldn't forget those figures even if he tried, but the minor details were quite unclear. Unsure of himself, Ryal began to trail his hands around his body, finding any possible damage that may have been done. Eventually, he came across the left side of his midsection, where he felt a small bit of abnormality. He pulled up his red t-shirt and saw minor bruising across his belly. Ryal raised a brow, tracking through his old memories. If he remembered correctly, he was stabbed there, though the results wouldn't be minor bruising for sure.

 _Just what the hell happened?_

"To answer any questions you may be having, you've just won the lottery with the luck you're having." A voice spoke from behind him.

Ryal immediately turned around to see a traveler stand before him. He wasn't a tall fellow, but rather a smaller, thin guy. Definitely not a fighter judging from his physique, but an upright man with a bit of confidence to make up for it. He wore short, tan cargos along with a green t-shirt. He had a large tilley hat with the same color as his shorts along with an identical colored backpack to carry his luggage around. Lastly, he had an exciting look upon his face, with glowing green eyes and jet black hair. Why he even camped out here in the middle of nowhere, aroused Ryal's interest of why it would be,

"Where are we?" The blond lad questioned, staring up at the traveler.

"We are located at the coordinates of X-5512 and Y-1684, otherwise known as the north-eastern lands of Terrinosis, exactly 23 kilometers north of Fleon city." He answered loud and clear like he's some kind of designed answering machine ready on the spot to give specific details about anything. Ryal found himself stunned by this sudden burst of knowledge spattering onto him. All he really cared about was the fact that they were near the city capital Fleon, which is good enough for him.

A grin formed on the man's face, "Surprised? You're lucky that I caught you before your life had given in. Now then…" He spoke, leaning down to Ryal to look into his eye. "Who are you?"

The young man pondered the question, given that he was many things. He was a man who lived by himself, absent of his family and lived by nothing but the resources he could gather. He was many other things too; he practiced martial arts, had a thing for hunting, and enjoyed the calm scenery by his lake. However, all of that living he enjoyed was gone now that he thought about it more. More things in his memory slowly unraveled as he thought about who he was, exactly.

Ryal returned his look into the man's eye, his lips curling into a smirk, "Just who the hell am I?" he responded, standing up to his feet.

The traveler found himself bewildered by Ryal's response, confused on how to even comment on it. As he was stunned, Ryal walked past him over to the nearby campfire. As seconds came by, he regained his thoughts and returned his attention to the taller man.

There was a short, awkward pause before the man spoke, "Well, the rest of your clothes is over by the tent. Feel free to chow down on some of the cooked meat over by the fire." The short man informed, fixing up his posture.

Ryal sniffed around the roasting meat over the campfire, developing a ravenous appetite over the compelling smell, instantly making his mouth water. His desire for food was even strong enough for his stomach to consume a horse. The smaller lad strolled towards the fire and took out the roasted meat, placing it onto a plastic dish over by the portable dining table. He looked up at the forest dweller with a faint smile.

"I can already tell, you must be eager to eat. Here, put your clothes on. I'll have your meal prepared instead."

Ryal took his word for it, grabbing his black tunic and belt. His mind roamed about, thinking of how long he was out for. He did eat an enormous boar after his previous hunt. He couldn't possibly forget that meal, but his starvation only meant that he was completely unconscious for over twenty-four hours.

"It's ready" The short one called out from behind him. Ryal immediately tightened his belt and stormed over to the portable table. The meal was made up of chicken wings, more than enough to satisfy his needs. He grabbed hold of the food and literally stuffed it in his mouth, spitting out any bone that got in the way of his feasting.

"By the way, you may call me Kento, in case you were wondering what to call me." He added.

Ryal gulped down the chunk of food in his mouth, "Pleasure to meet you, Kento. You can call me Ryal."

Kento let loose a wider smile, "Alright Ryal, it's good to see that you're well. I found you half dead with a hole in your stomach two days ago. It's a miracle to see that you're actually alive and well the instant you got up."

In between bites, Ryal began to spit out questions that popped into his mind, "How'd you know where I was?"

"I'm a traveler, and I was driven down southward because of the Arcosians. The instant they found you, they were completely distracted so I could successfully get by without being found." Kento explained, sitting down on the other end of the portable table.

"Arcosians?" Ryal questioned.

"Yeah, those are the guys you encountered. Their leader is a totalitarian dictator, so they're becoming very aggressive on a global scale. Haven't you read the news?"

Ryal finished off the wing he was chewing on, spitting out the bone onto his plate. He slid the plate off to the side and prompt his elbows onto the dining table surface. He cupped his chin in his hands and relax a bit to listen more intently.

"So that's what they're called?"

"Hmm, perhaps you should stop living under a rock and maybe get a grasp of what's going on out there. It ain't pretty I'll tell you that."

Ryal raised a brow, "I don't live under a rock."

"Of course you do, because you don't understand what I meant by it."

The blond forest dweller sighed, "Well, you took me all of the way out here. Is there anything you wanted out of me or...?" he spoke up, quickly changing the subject.

"I saw you half dead, so I decided to fix you up when I had the chance. Besides, I'm heading off to the city and maybe you could rent an apartment or something." Kento responded, speaking very bluntly.

"Rent an apartment?"

The shorter lad widened his eyes, "Goodness, have you ever been to the city before?"

Ryal responded with a shrug, "No, never have."

Kento sighed heavily, leaning upwards and standing up, "You done eating?"

Ryal returned his question with a simple nod, standing up afterward as well.

"Alright, you have two choices. I can leave you here to live off alone, and we can pretend that this thing here never happened. Or you can come with me on my travels since I could use a little company." He suggested.

The offer seemed to be rather simple. His home was literally hundreds of miles away, and reaching it to do the same thing he had been doing for years was dull. He never realized it before, but this new feeling of being all the way out here is fresh, with a vast adventure awaiting behind his offer. The newcomer was certainly blunt and pushy about what he does. But never has Ryal stepped outside the bounds of his own territory before. To enter an entirely new region was something he never thought he'd ever do in his lifetime. Besides, there was no way he could possibly seek payback on those ice people if he continued his regular lifestyle.

After pondering it for a moment, Ryal drifted his eyes towards Kento's, locking their gaze in place.

"I'll go with you, and I want to know every detail about these 'Arcosians' that you know."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The day had proceeded normally, with the clouds gradually clearing the sky to reveal a clear, but calm evening. Ryal and Kento were trekking through the Terronian forest, steadily approaching the city of Fleon. Kento had described it to be the main capital of Terrinosis, a city of pure gratitude and peace. It's commonly believed by many that much of the towns that reside in Terrinosis tend to be peaceful and respectful, as well as having a population where the majority happen to be conscientious objectors. Naturally, this tends to result in minimal crime rates and a functional society, but ineffective in self defense.

Kento knew for sure that the Arcosians would invade Terrinosis immediately, given that they're among the weakest of nations due to their pacifistic laws. He wasn't entirely sure that Fleon would still remain intact, having known that the frost demons swept over him days ago. Regardless, checking to see if the fact is true or not will be necessary, as their march forward is still completely unknown, where stealth plays a major factor when sweeping through the territory. One misstep could mean the end for the Arcosians; all of the nations in the world would immediately turn against them. Clearly their army is strong, and in high numbers. Judging based off of their physical condition, they must be well-fed too. However, Getsus still remains tougher than Icea, let alone all of the other nations in the world combined. Despite all of that, it's notable that the Arcosians have a clear distinct advantage since Terrinosis is a country that allows equal rights between races, meaning that spies have much easier access.

As Kento led Ryal towards the city, he began to feel the stress arise slowly. What if the city had already been invaded? If so, his food supply would be cut, resulting in having to fend for himself the old fashion way. It's a tough call, but at least he has an experienced hunter alongside his journey. This should at least ease the problematic invasion of the ice lizards.

Kento turned around to see the tall man follow closely behind, "We're almost there, just be on your guard. Trouble could be on the way whether we realize it or not."

Ryal nodded in agreement, acknowledging the fact that the Arcosian army is steadily advancing further south. Kento felt a small feeling of reassurance from Ryal's nod. He looks like a strong man, whereas Kento isn't fit to go up against such strong opponents. Having him around made things seem a lot easier, especially with the particular situation at this time. Those ice lizards are certainly nothing to laugh at; all of them are highly trained with well-honed ki abilities. Kento knew that if he ever encountered one, he may as well speak his last words and dig his own grave. Ryal on the other hand, has a decent chance. He survived his previous encounter, there's no reason for him to not endure another one.

"Wouldn't you think the city would already be gone? Those lizards are ahead of us for sure." Ryal spoke up.

"There's certainly a chance that they would've invaded it already, but Fleon has a lot of affiliations with other regions. If any of the other regions were to find out, all their eyes would lock on Icea." Kento responded, rubbing his hand against his chin.

Ryal stood silent for a moment, completely still in thought as he contemplated the issue carefully. Kento continued to lead the way, awaiting a response from his companion.

"Part of me wants to beat the living hell out of those lizards for what they did to my home. I'm sure they'll do the same to everyone else, because that's what they do: destroy. I don't care about their motivations, but I don't like what they do." He explained, choosing his words carefully. Trying to be precise with his feelings can sometimes be difficult, considering the fact that he was dragged into this completely new situation contrary to his usual lifestyle.

"I'm not a fan of these guys either, but it's wise to keep away from those monsters. Fighting should be, and always will be, a last resort. Unless you have a death wish, don't even come _near_ them." The shorter man insisted, tilting his hat forward to help block the sun's piercing light when they entered a clearing. Ryal followed shortly, halting beside Kento.

The two marveled at the scenery, seeing a vast landscape filled with the tops of trees, lit by an intense sun that sat close to the horizon. In the midst of the forest existed the city of Fleon, half forested and urban. Kento had it pictured perfectly in his mind, and the scene confirmed it.

Kento looked over to Ryal, whom appeared to be disappointed. The black haired traveler frowned at his expression, "You don't seem to be enjoying yourself."

"I can't say I am, I thought this would be a good opportunity to get back at those _bastards_." The warrior uttered, continuously scanning the landscape for anything hostile that resides it.

Kento merely sighed, rolling his eyes, "You only have yourself to blame if you end up bleeding to death."

The city of Fleon appeared to be peaceful, stretching across the urban limits seemingly calm and serene with virtually no disturbances. No signs of hostility were found, nor were there any pieces of evidence that suggest an attack. Kento was satisfied with this fact, though Ryal wasn't.

The two proceeded down the steep hill, heading towards the nearby city without further negotiation. Each step forward resulted in the slow upbringing of a chanting crowd, growing louder and clearer gradually. The packed trees began to thin slowly as the town buildings were nearing the two travelers. They eventually came across a lining of fence, positioned upright between property and the forested land outside of the city. Without question, Ryal leaped over the fence without second thought, proceeding along casually into the city limits. Kento immediately became startled by Ryal's sudden careless walk through someone's backyard.

"You idiot! You're not supposed to do that!" Kento exclaimed in a low voice, making sure not to catch attention of any strangers living nearby. Ryal turned around with a puzzled look.

"What?" the blond man shot back, confused as to what he was doing wrong.

"You're not supposed to trespass someone's property like that, just follow me ok?"

the shorter traveller insisted, receiving a nod from his companion. The two continued down the line of fencing before coming across a wide paved street leading into the city limits. Kento then placed a hand on Ryal's shoulder, as if he were about to explain something important.

"You are to stay on the sidewalks. The darker pavement is always off limits, alright?" Kento insisted, making sure to keep a close eye on the forest dweller. Ryal merely nodded, feeling slightly ticked off over the fact that he's being ordered around and monitored like a pack of hawks spying on their prey. If it was for the best however, then so be it.

"The city is much different than you think… Given your looks, you'll probably receive a lot of attention. Just ignore the glares, it's not hostile or anything of that matter." Kento explained briefly, strolling into the streets of Fleon with Ryal following close behind. The tall lad tried to keep his composure and refrain from creating attention, but it was no use. His set of clothing and sense of style appeared contrary to that of the city's people, which consists of a fashion that Ryal had never recognized before in his lifetime. People who walked by the tall lad were staring at him up and down as if he were an alien. Ryal didn't peep a word however, consistently keeping his composure meanwhile eschewing from returning looks to divert the attention away. Already, he began to dislike the nature of cities.

Ryal leaned down to Kento, "I don't think it's working." He informed quietly to his ear, beginning to feel an uncomfortable feeling arouse.

Kento merely shrugged, "I don't have much to say. If you're so worried about looks, go buy some new clothes. A haircut should work too."

Ryal narrowed his eyes, returning his posture and continued to follow his companion as usual. "Buy clothes? I don't even know if they accept goods or currency around here." Ryal complained.

Kento chuckled, "Oh I know. It's not the end of the world; people around here are harmless."

Ryal stood silent, knowing well that the people of the town didn't pose any actual threat or harm, but rather a sense of wonder and curiosity towards him. Granted, it's similar to how the blond lad felt about the city itself; the sense of admiration for such a prosperous settlement for a society. He felt strange about it, though he couldn't help but feel somewhat attracted to its nature. Nothing had sparked his interest as much as anything, since the presence of this alien place is a nature in of itself. It's a world, an atmosphere that the young man couldn't look away from. Perhaps this was the reason why he drew so much attention in the first place? Surely, there was a small bit of intimidation having entered the city, like a nervous feeling almost. Despite that, Ryal still found himself observing the tall standing structures up and down, staring down the streets at each intersection, seeing the cars that drove by, sending minor gushes of wind Ryal's way. Yes, this is a world that he long yearned for, one that he can explore and experience for himself.

The two had continued their walk throughout the downtown area of the city. Ryal had followed Kento's lead just like the very beginning without a word, crossing the occasional intersection during the green lights. Kento halted across from a large building plastered with basic windows all throughout each side of the structure. As expected, Ryal stopped behind Kento as well, wondering what's going on.

Kento turned around to see Ryal, "Well here we are."

"What's this? Do we get this all to ourselves?" Ryal questioned, staring at his companion in bewilderment.

"Not at all. We simply rent a room from the front counter. Come, I'll show ya." Kento responded, returning his direction back towards the building. The traveller led him inside the building. Upon entering, the two were greeted with a broad room with a few people standing behind a front counter. Ryal couldn't help but scan the room, seeing as they'll be resting at the place for a few days presumably, at least until Kento gathers enough goods for them to take off for the wilderness again. Kento on the other hand, simply proceeded towards the counter, dropping a few dollar bills on the surface and exchanging a few words with one of the people. It wasn't long before Kento had returned to the forest dweller.

"Alright, we got ourselves a room." Kento stated.

"Good stuff." said Ryal, nodding his head nonchalantly as he awaited for the shorter man to make way. The two headed off towards the staircase, eventually reaching the third floor of the building. After making a few turns down each hallway, they approached a locked door. Kento stood right in front of the doorknob, swiping a card through what appeared to be a small crack, causing a light to flash and emitting a faint 'beep'. He opened the door, and the two walked into the room.

"Neat little place, huh?" said Kento, looking over at Ryal who seemed to be surveying the room carefully, analyzing each corner and wall for traps that could potentially harm them. He even went so far as to crawl on the ground and sniff each square inch of surface, as well as feeling the texture of the carpet for any signs of hidden objects concealed behind the floor.

Kento narrowed his eyes. "Relax man, we're in a safe hotel. Geez."

Ryal stopped in his tracks, returning his gaze towards his companion. "How would you know?"

"Whatever, do as you please. I'm not here to stop you." he sighed, going into the bathroom.

Ryal decided that enough was enough, getting up and instead exploring the small apartment. He peaked his head through the few doors that appeared on either wall. One of the doors comprised of a bedroom, along with the other being another bedroom, though a bit smaller. Lastly, the room Kento is in happened to be a bathroom, so nothing out of the ordinary in particular. Ryal then stretched his arms, walking through the larger bedroom doorway and plunked himself down on the bed before laying down, contemplating the current situation at hand.

 **. . .**

At the outskirts of Fleon, a man walking in a tan trench coat approached an old vacant warehouse. He appeared quite short, wearing a grey newsboy cap and a pair of hiking boots. The man had kept a stern look on his face, looking as if he were searching for something. He pulled a small gadget right out of his pocket, pressing a few buttons before opening the garage door located at the side of the building. While it opened, he pressed on through, greeted by a silent room, dimly lit by the sun's glare peaking from outside the warehouse. He immediately halted upon setting foot inside the room, scanning the area for anything suspicious. But nothing came of interest, only that there were a few parked vehicles inside the area, indicating that the place may not be completely empty afterall.

It wasn't long before the man proceeded further into the room, attempting to explore the place for himself. His body stood firm and ready, expecting to react within certain time. He also remained calm and relaxed, reducing any adrenaline flow that may run through his veins and disrupt his flow. His footsteps were reduced to a muffled sound, as well as concealing his aura to prevent any sort of attraction whatsoever. To him however, it was actually a waste of time to even attempt to approach stealthily…

Almost instantaneously, a swift figure came rushing by the man, nearly grazing him. He felt a cold rush blow by his nose. Had he not moved out of the way out of that strike, he would have been sent crashing through the warehouse walls like a bowling ball. He wasn't stupid though, considering the fact that he anticipated that sudden attack.

Another figure launched from behind one of the cars, attempting to land a blow on the newcomer's cheek. The man in the trenchcoat however, slid right off to the side before getting struck. He then leaped back onto the roof of a nearby truck, gaining the upper ground so that he could quickly observe the attackers from a safe distance. He spotted the two figures standing off in the distance, both appearing to be Arcosian soldiers. There was then a the sound of feet pressing against the roof of a cargo box, causing the man to turn around; it was another Arcosian troop.

"I figured you lizards would show up here." The man spoke up, carefully keeping an eye on the surrounding footsoldiers.

"You're quite fast for a monkey, and your power level confirms it." a raspy voice spoke out from across the dark room. Another Arcosian emerged from the shadows, wearing special cosmetics that indicated everyone that he was a higher ranking soldier. The intruder took note of his appearance, making sure to be weary of his movements for he was probably the strongest out of the bunch.

"A monkey? You must be mistaken. I don't walk around with a furry tail on my ass now do I?" he chuckled.

The Arcosian veteran narrowed his eyes, "I see, you must be a gifted human. That doesn't make the slightest difference however…"

"Even if it didn't." the man cut off, reaching into his inner coat pockets and pulling out what seemed to be a license of some sort. "I'm reporting you to the International Justice Association. If your lizard army dares to attack any city or town, you can kiss your homeland goodbye." the man stated, forming a wide grin on his face.

Enraged, the Arcosian veteran pointed his finger at the man, "All men! Focus on capturing that man alive! I want his license now!"

The intruder raised a brow, astounded at how fast the high ranking soldier stopped the negotiation and called for an attack. It didn't really matter however. Dealing with foot soldiers was practically child play. He began looking at his surroundings, feeling out dozens of rising ki signatures that were headed his way. The man turned around to see the two attackers nearing closely, approaching even faster than before. He kicked off his shoes towards the attacks, causing them to raise their arms and block to projectiles, buying the newcomer enough time to leap off of the truck and head towards the garage exit.

As he stepped outside, the Arcosian that was positioned on the cargo previously had followed behind closely, trailing after the man in the trench coat. The man zipped around and unleashed some of his aura, punching the persistent foot soldier in the gut meanwhile ducking under a strike that was thrown at him. He sent the lizard flying back towards the garage, followed by two more charging foot soldier. Upon seeing the fighters charge out of the warehouse, he quickly held both of his index fingers together closely, beginning to charge a thin, dense string comprised of his energy. He then brought his hands further away from each other, extending the string more as the foot soldiers continued to charge. One Arcosian managed to close in the gap and launch a high lifting kick towards his chin. Immediately, the man sidestepped the kick swiftly, wrapping part of the string around the leg the Arcosian kicked with. Afterwards, the man zipped past the lizard, tying him inside the string before approaching the next foot soldier. The lizard threw a punch towards the newcomer's head, but the man dodged the attack with ease once again, tying the Arcosian's wrist with separate ki string. He then took a step away from the Arcosians, gaining a bit of distance before tying the string to each of his feet.

"What are you…?" One of the Arcosians questioned.

"I'm making you into something you already are." he answered quickly, shifting his gaze back towards the garage, seeing the numerous foot soldier rush out of the warehouse, filling the air with their bloodlusted screams. He turned back to the tied up Arcosians, "A weapon."

Before the lizards could comprehend what the man had just said, they were swirling around the air, losing their breath from the sheer intensity of being spun around like rag dolls. The man on the other hand, looked like he was break dancing on the ground, swinging the tied up Arcosians with his legs. Many of the attacking frost demons were struck by the rapid motion of their helpless comrades, knocking them out cold as well as sending them flying for hundreds of yards. Within only a few seconds, much of the garrison had already held back into an evasive position, solely focusing on trying to dodge the swinging lizard bodies that spun around like a helicopter.

Soon afterwards, the decorated Arcosian soldier had exited the building, witnessing the absolute massacre the human had brought upon the group of fighters. The man quickly noticed him, forming a sadistic smile upon his face after seeing the high ranked soldier's expression. It wasn't long before he growled, baring his teeth angrily and charging onward towards the man. He managed to dodge the incoming lizard bodies that were continuously swinging towards him. The fighter, unlike others, closed the gap between the two relatively fast. However, the man adapted rapidly, responding to his movement thoroughly and throwing a fast, blunt jab towards the Arcosian. It was abrupt, catching the frost demon off guard and sending him flying towards the warehouse. He managed to recover sufficiently however, though the man had already anticipated this. He swung his feet forward and sliced the string off of his feet with his bare hands, propelling the dead bodies towards the high ranked soldier. They landed successfully, knocking the wind out of the lizard as he crashed into the interior walls of the warehouse.

The man smirked, launching his string through the warehouse from where he stood. He shut the garage door with the string and turned around, walking away safe and sound.

 **. . .**

Ryal opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling. He squinted his eyes a few times to adjust to the dimly lit room before leaning upwards off of the comfortable bed. The young lad never really dreamed to have such a cozy bed, mainly because he never really thought about the possibility of it. He found it strange to live in such an environment that was beyond anything of his expectations. Literally everything was much higher in quality than back at his old home, only that his personal belongings and equipment were non existent in the place. However, there was a valid reason. There was no practical use for such equipment and belongings anyway. Why hunt when you can go to a store that provides food for you?

After sitting motionless for a brief moment, with his thoughts exploring the environment around him, he got up to his feet and approached the apartment window. He opened the blinds, blinking a couple times as his gaze reached the glass pane. The city sparkled with street lights, covering nearly the whole landscape that displayed before his eyes. Some buildings sat higher than others, tending to be more prevalent often times in what seemed to be the center of town. The skyscrapers could definitely be seen from miles away, almost indistinguishable to that of the mountain range that sat a ways away from the old cottage. The only difference between the two was the fact that skyscrapers were brimming with little dense lights that could meet with the eyes of those sitting far away. Fascinating, a spectacular view even in the darkest of nights. Back at Ryal's home, night time was pitch black. The stars were the only lights along with the moon, but that didn't change the fact that nothing could be seen in the vast darkness of the forest.

Ryal shut down the blinds and turned around to see the doorway. He stepped on through it, beginning to overhear Kento's snoring off in the background. The young man smiled faintly, knowing it must have been quite late. He then turned to the door and walked out, heading off towards the front entrance to explore the area a bit. It's time he had a feel for what the city was like for himself.

He began exploring the more populated streets, finding numerous groups of people walking up and down the sidewalk. There was a traffic jam nearly around every corner. Ryal figured it must have been the late evening then, considering the amount of people who are up and around the city at a time like this. After a short while, Ryal took off for the outskirts out of curiosity, sightseeing the different environments all contained in the city of Fleon. Ryal had approached the multiple different settings and variety that was all contained into one single community, a complexity that changed throughout the course of the city. Unlike downtown, this area had much smaller buildings. They were less compact and more open, with less people walking along it. Cars were much further spread along the streets with less jams. Many of the houses looked similar. Ryal suspect them to be houses for living rather than shopping, meaning the apartment he and Kento had settled in wasn't meeting the standard of living in the city. Of course, people still looked at him funny, considering that he was still wearing his regular training clothes since daytime.

Eventually, Ryal came across a series of warehouses on one end of a wide open parking lot, dimly lit by long intervals of street lights that covered portions of the pavement area. The city lights were much less prevalent, making it an oddly dark setting in contrast to downtown or the suburban roads. Ryal couldn't find a single soul that resided in the whole place, but he didn't find his keen senses reliable enough, considering the place's massive size. Not to mention, it was completely alien to the young man. There wasn't a single parked car anywhere to be seen either, so Ryal assumed that the place was safe to investigate closely. He decided to stroll into the building, not too aware of concealing his presence; he would know if there was evidence for any life within the area anyway. The forest dweller began to feel the dust from metal surfaces seep through his nostrils, indicating how long the warehouses were abandoned for. There wasn't any proof of what the warehouse was used for, but one could assume that it was to export the various types of wood that resided in the Terrinosis forests. Ryal was by no means an expert, but he knew that cities are known for trading goods with other cities. In Terrinosis, tree species were an abundance and exclusive to the area.

Ryal's exploration continued, finding similar areas. Typically, they were empty storage areas once used to transport things. Once he was about to turn around and leave, Ryal came across a single room with claw-like footprints printed on the dirty cement floor. Ryal raised a brow, leaning down close to the floor and sniffing the trail of what appeared to be several footprints going back and forth. The smell was faint, but evidently recent, however, not recent enough. Given how silent the large rooms were, the people that resided the warehouses may have taken off only a few hours ago. Ryal's gaze became stern, knowing well that the footprints probably belonged to the Arcosians. He couldn't think of another two-legged species with three toes branching off widely from the heel. Out of curiosity, Ryal followed the footprints deeper inside, coming across several different branches of rooms throughout the one warehouse.

He then entered a much larger room, filled with numerous footprints coming in different shapes and sizes, many distinguishable from each other. Ryal's eyes grew as he examined the ground more intently. There must have been several Arcosians here. It _has_ to be them!

Ryal began to look for the exit the Arcosians took, finding one that looked like a large exit for vehicles to travel through. The young lad continued to follow the footprints until he halted at the sight of a very distinguishable footprint. Unlike the others, this one may have been a shoe-print, coming from the exit of the large garage door. looking over, Ryal found another footprint of a person's left foot. It had to have belonged to a human. This one was bizarre however, since there was only one print of it. Ryal began looking everywhere for another human footprint, but found no results. However, there is a couple of shoes scattered along the ground, found off to the side of the main footprint path. This meant that a man must have discarded his shoes at some point, probably used as a weapon if anything. If that's the case, then why was there only one human footprint within the room?

Then it clicked. _It must have been outside_. Ryal quickly kicked down the garage door, making it snap off the ledges and tumble over outside. To his avail, Ryal was correct. There were human footprints outside. It was few in number however, meaning the man was capable of leaping very far with each step. He had to be a skilled warrior then. If the shoe prints were tightly packed together, but the human prints were very spaced out, then a man must have entered the building believing he was not in danger; that was when he encountered the Arcosians.

Ryal continued walking along with large lot of footprints that were mostly faded away due to the wind. However, given the fact that they still remain, it hasn't been long since this event happened. Ryal figured that a man had to have fought several Arcosians at once, meaning that the army that had traveled south through his home settled at the warehouse. After more examinations, the young warrior knelt next to a track of human footprints that appeared to be absent of any Arcosian footprints, as well as it being tightly packed together. Had the man walked away from battle alive? Ryal stared at the tracks in astonishment. A man had fought a group of those lizards, and walked away from it. If he were to have defeated them all though, there would probably be unconscious bodies somewhere. He doubted it; the diversity of footprints were much lesser than inside the building. They probably left elsewhere, but Ryal had already made up his mind; the dirt on the parking lot became less prevalent the further away it was from the warehouse.

He needed to warn Kento about this. Ryal was certainly interested in taking on the lizards considering what they did to his property, but Kento wouldn't last a second in a fight against them. His first priority was to get him out of there before destruction was let loose in the city, just like what happened to his home. Ryal sped away towards the apartment, remembering the routes he had taken earlier to get there quickly.

A few minutes passed by, and Ryal had halted in front of the apartment building, scanning its features to make sure it was the right one. Upon making his confirmation, Ryal dashed inside the building, heading up the stairs in mere seconds, reaching the correct door number. Once he stood in front of the room, he attempted to grab hold of the door knob and twist; no avail. He scoffed out of disappointment, knocking on the door loudly in hopes of getting an answer. Seconds began to tick by like a time bomb about set off, causing a feeling of anxiety within Ryal. The nerves in his body felt uneasy. Time couldn't be told or understood, the feeling of a great event could easily unleash now or later. The nature of an unknown future was an entity itself. It exists, and eventually dies off when the ordeal unfolds. Right now, Ryal could feel the nervousness that enveloped him like a shroud of darkness sweeping over his nearly insignificant existence. It was just like the time where his home had been trampled over the floating contraptions built by the Arcosians, where he stood no literal chance against the overwhelming odds that pressed over him like nothing. He hated it, he wanted to end it by his own will, but that didn't stop him from being nervous.

The seconds soon turned into minutes. Ryal couldn't bare the wait, knocking on the door repeatedly. He didn't even clearly know why. He hadn't bothered tracking where the Arcosians left to, why was he so concerned? Was it the possibility of this happening? Perhaps the possibility is small? Who knows?

The blond man couldn't grasp the situation correctly. He didn't know what to think exactly, in fact. Ryal continued to let the seconds go by loosely, attempting to cool himself down over the given incident that must have happened back at the warehouse. The important matter was to get Kento out of the city. Furthermore, Kento knows more about the Arcosian's nature and their situation more than he does, so it's of utmost importance that he would contact him as soon as possible, only that he could. The door was locked and he wasn't getting any response. Without even contemplating different ways of approaching the situation, Ryal simply kicked down the door, sounding off an alarm just a few seconds afterwards. The blond lad raised a brow, confused as to why such a loud noise had boomed throughout the hotel. Before he could even think of going into the other bedroom, Ryal was greeted by a very grumpy, tired looking man dressed in pajamas.

"Just what the hell!" Kento screamed off the top of his lungs, staring down the door flat on the ground.

"We can't talk right now, just grab on and I'll get us out of here." Ryal insisted, kneeling down to give Kento a piggyback ride.

"But…"

"Grab on."

Kento hopped on without a word. Ryal proceeded on by entering his old bedroom and kicking through the glass window. Kento let out gasp of pain as he shut his eyes when the glass shards were sent flying, Ryal leaped off outside, landing on a narrow alleyway just outside the hotel. By the time he landed, the blond lad leaped over the fence that stood next to the apartment, and began to speed off away from the building.

"So what the hell is this all about!?" Kento shouted from behind Ryal's ear.

"They're here."

"What?"

"The Arcosians."

Kento remained silent for second, incapable of forming a response on the spot. That's a big deal, but the city appeared to be fine, prompting Kento to ask another question.

"What do you mean? They're here?" Kento questioned.

"Yeah, I found some footprints inside a warehouse on the outskirts of the city." Ryal responded, almost nonchalantly.

"Footprints!? What are you, some kind of scavenger?" The black-haired man spoke in disbelief.

"I've hunted all my life. Trust my judgement if you can, but I'm getting you out of here." Ryal insisted, running down the side of the road towards the area where they came from.

"Well you could have at least allowed me to grab my shit before you smashed the damn window." Kento whined.

Ryal narrowed his eyes, "It's too late now. I have to get you out."

Kento sighed, knowing that he won't be able to retrieve much of his belongings. Instead, he began scrambling around in his shirt pocket, picking out two capsules.

"Well, I still have my bag and the storage to my personal souvenirs and such. I'll be fine on my own for awhile." Kento stated, dropping the capsule back into his shirt pocket.

"Good to hear. Now I have a few things to ask." Ryal proceeded, leaping up to one building before hopping across each one. Kento held onto Ryal even tighter this time, making sure he wouldn't fall and potentially break something.

"The Arcosians were based off in a warehouse just a few hours earlier. By now they've already dispersed the building and went missing. Given your knowledge, what do you suspect they'll try to be doing?" Ryal asked.

"If they're trying to attack Fleon, the first thing they'll do is cut communications. Internet access should be down, and pretty much everything else. If you can stop for a second and put me down, I can check."

Ryal obeyed Kento's request, halting on top of a single building away from anyone's presence. The shorter man hopped down from Ryal's back, activating one of his capsules. A large puff of smoke appeared from where the capsule was thrown, and a bag had formed shortly after the smoke took place. Kento walked over to the bag and began looking through it. He then turned his head towards Ryal.

"Turn around." He stated bluntly. The blond man didn't say a word, turning away from Kento on the spot. The black-haired traveler then made a quick change of clothes before taking out his phone. After browsing through it, he bit his lip out of frustration.

"No internet access, and we're standing on top of a fast-food place with free wi-fi. Either it's a coincidence or the Arcosians managed to cut all of the signals in town somehow." Kento explained with a sudden change in mood. He sounded slightly more nervous, rather surprised over the fact that with their technology, they managed to shut down all of the internet access sites within town.

"So you're right." Ryal responded, taking in a deep breath.

"Yeah, I'd imagine they would soon shut down all of the electricity lines too if they could find it. That means we gotta get out of here quick and never come back. It's a damn shame that I left my wallet back at the apartment so we're gonna have to hunt for our food." he explained further.

The blond lad sat down on the edge of the roof calmly, stretching his back along with his arms to ease the tension in his body. His shoulders hunched over a small bit, allowing his shoulders to relax as his eyes dazed upon the city lights that still remained bright as ever, overwriting much of the stars above from ever making an appearance. He wondered what would happen to the night sky if the city lights were to dissipate suddenly. Would that restore the stars by any chance? Ryal knew without a single doubt, that changes would envelope not only for the sky, but the city as well. Kento was probably freaking out right now, given that he woke up to see the earth-shattering results that came in. The evidence was already overwhelming, certainly proving that the Arcosians were bound to make a move. His mixed feelings over this still remained, only growing on him gradually. The sense of excitement and fear were tied together in a shoe lace, remaining as a knot until it is loose. It will surely be far more exaggerated than back at home, where it only took a single contraption to blow the whole thing down. Ryal, having been caught off guard unexpectedly, had failed miserably. What about a much grander scale where the city's people don't know what's going on?

Ryal had completely forgot. There was a _man_. _One man._ He who walked away from a battle with several bloodlusted lizards, enduring so well that _he_ walked away without losing a drop of blood. A fighter with that kind of ability, how mind boggling it is to think that such a feat could be pulled off by _one man._ Skills such as that had to be honed well enough to disregard any racial, biological and physical advantages others have. A single warrior among demons, walking away intact, perhaps even victorious. Where had he gone since then? Considering that he was the only one besides him and Kento who knew about the hidden invasion that would undermine the other region's chances of winning an already imminent war. Ryal didn't know the reason for it at all, other than what his father told him. _They were very aggressive,_ he said. _The creatures that lie in the north yearn for power._ What exactly were their justifications for doing so? All they wanted was a foot over everyone else, grabbing hold of the attention of all. Everyone else had to bow down to their reign and kiss their feet, acknowledge their superiority and boost their overwhelmingly incomprehensible ego, like living in an ideal reality where you're praised and loved for your greatness, when it's just a forced action to keep themselves alive. Having to live a life where people value their lives enough to value a powerful being is a sad and pathetic existence. Maybe not for the lizards, but Ryal didn't accept such a lifestyle for anyone, because of its lack of genuine nature.

"Aren't you going to carry me out of here or what?" Kento spat, expressing a sense of impatience towards Ryal. It was much less an irritation and more of an eagerness to avoid being involved in a killing spree, where he was on the receiving end of one.

The forest dweller simply nodded at Kento's statement, getting up and walking over to his shorter companion. He bent down and allowed for Kento to hop on his back. Once the two were set, Ryal sped off towards the northern forests once again, leaving the brimming lights behind him further and further away. It turned into a point where the lights had completely disappeared, as if they never existed in the first place.

"Ryal."

The tall man turned his head around, seeing a pitch black setting before him. Ryal slew down, confused as to what happened. He then changed his gaze towards the sky, where the night sky was cluttered with stars beyond the atmosphere. The city had already lost all of its of electricity.

"We're still in the outskirts, so we've got to be careful and stick together." Kento added, whispering into Ryal's ear.

"Yeah, I bet they'll try and make this as quiet as possible and sweep the entire town in no time." Ryal stated, beginning to find a suitable place to drop off Kento.

After a few minutes of running, Ryal came across an area right at the edge of a cliff. He halted at the sight, and dropped off Kento onto the area.

"I'll be leaving. If I don't return here by morning, assume I'm dead and leave." said Ryal.

Before Kento could protest, Ryal took off back towards the city, though this time a lot faster. He may not be very endowed in city knowledge, but he was a hunter at heart. Ryal spent his entire childhood hunting food, approaching his target with stealthy maneuvers. He knew how to travel in the darkest of places, as well as remain completely hidden. His father taught him how to keep a low profile, and strike at the perfect moment. It was shame that he didn't have his weapons readily available, so he would need to rely on his martial arts abilities. Clean kills may not even be an option, but rather to stay hidden and play it carefully, and observe the nature of the Arcosians. The more knowledge he gained, the better chances he has at coming out victorious.

Ryal arrived at the city, leaping across several rooftops in a matter of seconds, meanwhile being watchful of the alleyways and streets below using his keen senses. He relied more on his well developed senses and instincts at the very moment, as it is more reliable than to dose off and daydream about possibilities. Voices soon began to arise as he explored the rooftops, mostly consisting of confused sounds of citizens around town. There was no sign of fighting yet, but only the perplexity lurking up and down the streets silent of any other noise with the exception of voices. The honking of horns and roaring of cars were silenced. The city's atmosphere had changed much differently than it had before, where it was completely contrary to its nature before. Instead of a thriving society booming with life and constant noise, it was a silent confusion that sat still and unmoving. Ryal eased his breathing a bit, attempting to catch on to any bizarre sound that would whir by unexpectedly. At this point, it was absolutely certain that this attack will be as unforeseen as the attack on Ryal's home cottage as it is here, if not more. This would stage as a great problem, because it's a practically ideal time to strike. To do so swiftly and efficiently would prove much worse.

The blond lad headed off towards the downtown area, sightseeing the skyscrapers for any signs of an attack. Having yielded zero results, Ryal suspected that it may begin to occur in the residential areas of Fleon city, where most of the citizens are residing during this time. It would prove much more difficult if they attacked an area where people were most compact and capable reacting to a stealthy slaughter blow through the streets, as opposed to simply doing in by one in each house. Ryal then sped off towards the neighborhoods across town, carefully picking up any suspicious sounds of some sort. Out of curiosity, Ryal even decided to peek through some windows to see if there was any destruction taken place. He hadn't come across a single house that was invaded yet however, but that didn't stop him from exploring further.

Ryal continued down the street in search of signs of an attack. It was absolutely ideal for the Arcosians to make their move at this point. Perhaps they were in another section of town? That's why he persisted in going down this one street that led to miles of houses stretching across the landscape. Once in awhile Ryal would stop to listen to anything suspicious, always resulting in nothing.

A scream had filled the air with its presence, confusing many of the residents even further of the situation. Ryal could barely pick up the sound, but it was enough to completely change his direction and launch his way towards the site of the scream. His physical and mental senses were heightened completely, prepared for anything to come. The forest dweller had kept note of all the teachings he learned when he was younger, as if his whole life were to prepare for this one single moment where he would once again, encounter the intimidating frost demon that had once nearly killed him during their first encounter. The constant fear and excitement was immediately replaced by adrenaline, keeping Ryal on the tip of his toes as he neared himself towards the cry of a bystander, losing everything they had along with their own life. Ryal could feel the drain he had of his own home, only having himself now to pay back the debt of losing his way of life. At the same time, he had gained so much already, such as a friend that he wanted to protect and the will to explore the world for itself. But he also motivated himself to strike the Arcosians _hard._ It wasn't for justice, even though he could empathize with those who lost a lot of what they had. It was for himself, mainly. He needed his own, personal confirmation that _he alone_ would make a lasting impact on the lizards themselves. The lasting impact had to have satisfied Ryal's taste, as well as give him hope that he had followed his father's deeds accordingly, that he was worth the effort to train and raise to become a man of accomplishment and desire. Not only did the young man want to fill his typical pride, he wanted to think that his father would be proud for what he did, and protect the honor that his father had brought along. If he had not retaliated against the Arcosians, Ryal would become a lesser man, unworthy to be called the son of a great man and therefore lose the dignity that the family bloodline once had.

Personal matters aside, Ryal felt uneasy given the circumstances he was in. He wanted to be great like his father, and this single moment would decide whether or not that matter would be true or not. These Arcosians are undoubtedly deadly, and dealing with such matters will be a large challenge. Ryal had to focus and not let the situation sway him. He felt that he had approached where the scream was located at. The young lad looked down at the street, seeing many confused, wandering citizens standing outside a house. Some had even brought along weapons to defend themselves from anything that lurked inside the home. They all stood still, some were more prepared and hid behind obstacles. There were also people standing from afar, watching the scene intently from a safe distance where they would have a chance at getting away. Ryal didn't like it at all, he stood on the rooftop firmly and prepared to release an attack at any given moment.

There then became an eerie silence that settled in the moment, delaying the inevitable with a moment of fear that had struck everyone in front of that doorstep, which stood completely empty of any sounds ever since the scream was emitted. Ryal slowly crawled along the rooftops to get a closer view of the scene. The people there remained still and watchful. The blond man continuously looked back and forth between the house and the people outside, waiting.

In a brief instant, the door at the front of the house had busted open, and then came by a few blurs. Ryal had barely followed it, that of which had ended up to the neighboring side of the street. The people did not react, but rather they fell over into bits and pieces of flesh and bone, producing a haystack of human meat now rotting on the pavement. Ryal's eyes widened at the sight. Their speed was phenomenal, enough to surprise Ryal to the point where his capability in keeping up with their movements was proving difficult. Three Arcosians stood still on the sidewalk, turning their heads towards the majority of the viewers. Quick and calculative, they had taken off once again to prevent the other citizens from screaming, which would then attract even more attention than before. However, Ryal had taken note of this, deciding to follow the single Arcosian that took off for the area with less people. He wouldn't be able to prevent two of the lizards from completely slaughtering the majority, but Ryal could prevent the one foot soldier from killing a few of the people for at least a brief moment, enough to allow the citizens to attract more attention.

The Arcosian soldier had targeted a younger woman, aiming to slice her to pieces before she could let off a scream. Before he could execute his attack, he was slammed across the cheek with an open palm, sending him flying through the nearby houses, causing a hefty ruckus within the area. Ryal had successfully landed his swift strike, landing at the spot where he had committed his attack. Instinctively, Ryal had set his sights on the other Arcosian soldiers whom had already killed off all the other citizens on the one end of the street.

Suddenly, the woman's voice had reached the top of her lungs, causing tears to run down her face immediately as the instant slaughter took place. Ryal left himself wide open to the other foot soldier, prepared to take on any attack that would be thrown at him. He didn't bother to pay mind to the crying girl behind him, for she had already fulfilled her purpose in the whole ordeal; attract attention. If anyone else as powerful, or more perhaps, were to scout around the city to find anything of suspicion, they would find it here without question.

"Huh, looks like our plan flopped."

That _voice,_ so eerie and disturbing as ever!

"That's alright, I was getting bored of keeping this constant low profile. I want to fight someone of worth." the other lizard responded in that familiar voice Ryal had recognized. That, or most of the ice lizards sounded quite similar.

They both turned around to see Ryal and the screaming woman. The Arcosian to the left quickly raised a finger and shot a thin, purple energy beam. The thin piercing light drilled through the woman's chest, thus ending her life on the spot. Ryal hadn't reacted quickly enough to stop it, rather the fear enveloped him. The heat of that beam could be felt across his cheek, enough to make him feel like his skin was about to melt.

"Sorry if you went to go save that girl, she just so happened to be a loud nuisance anyway." The foot soldier chuckled, lowering his arm from having shot the beam. Ryal entered a fighting stance at that moment, keeping his voice silent.

The other frost demon clicked a button on his green-colored eye contraption, causing a few 'beep' sounds to occur. He then formed a sinister grin that expressed loads of excitement.

"Wow! Impressive for a man I must say. This ought to be enjoyable."

Ryal gritted his teeth slightly, expecting this kind of behavior from them. However, he remained as calm as possible, reducing some of his adrenaline rush from having entered the scene so abruptly.

"I have personal reasons for being here, and I'm sure you're dying for a thrilling battle. You up for it?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Ryal had kept his breathing under control, weary of whatever movement or sudden flick of the limbs could occur. The more the young lad had kept an eye on them, the more his memories began to resurface. Their claw-like feet strongly resembled the footprints he had spotted just then. He couldn't help but grow a familiarity with everything he witnessed in congruence to the Arcosians, which kept resurfacing the memories he had prior to waking up in the middle of the woods. Kento helped him along by leading the way, a bringer of knowledge in fact. The short traveler had known about the lizards and everything from head to toe, what they're like, what they'll do; he will express their nature neatly into words that made almost perfect sense. These are people that will go far to reach what they want, or rather, being led by those who will do as such. A _totalitarian dictatorship._ Kento had mentioned that earlier, meaning they are being led by a single being. Ryal acknowledged that, minding the fact that they were merely doing their job. They could ultimately rebel considering that. But it's only speculation that someone would end up pulling a stunt like that. It wouldn't even be that significant, considering their terrific numbers and profound organization of troops.

The young warrior entered a fighting stance after a few moments of silence, assuming his opponents were going to accept his offer. The one lizard who Ryal had hit returned to the scene, halting between his two comrades before staring down the human fighter, whom had been waiting for a single response.

"I take that you're a Saiyan? It's such a rare thing. An occurrence like that almost _never_ happens." The frost demon assumed, speaking with a hint of irritation in his voice. He wasn't exactly content over the fact that he was struck out of nowhere.

Ryal shook his head, "No, I'm a human."

All of the foot soldiers raised a brow, "Another one?"

"That's the second time we ran into a man with abnormally high strength." Another said.

The forest dweller felt a sliver of hope run through his veins as they said those words. After all, there are a select few wandering around somewhere, capable of bringing down these formidable foes wielding great power. Evidently, they'll surely be more successful than Ryal in trying to counteract the Arcosians.

"Leave it to me then." The one in the middle spoke, "You two can sit back and conserve your energy for any potential newcomers besides this fool." he said, clearly seeking for payback as he was hit just earlier. To Ryal's knowledge, he must have angered him further over the fact that he identified as a human. This was a good thing, however. He had the privilege of fighting only one of the foot soldiers. His chances of prevailing were boosted by a ton at that moment.

Ryal was about to make a response of approval, when the lizard had already disappeared from sight. He was nearly caught off guard by the disarming bluntness of this approach. Ryal refused to be struck however. He immediately leaped backwards to gain some distance before he could get an accurate determination of his enemy's whereabouts.

The tall lad zipped his head towards the right, spotting the fast approaching Arcosian just a smidgen before the lizard had reached physical range. Instinctively, Ryal brought up his guard to deflect any attack the Arcosian would dish out. Instead, to his dismay, he was struck with a splatter of point blank energy splashing right through his body. Ryal protectively held his forearms in front of his face for the best defensive maneuver he could muster. Despite the fact that he was blown with a powerful attack, Ryal had assumed the lizard was attempting to get in close without attracting any attention; a stealth attack. Ryal zipped around and found what he had anticipated. The foot soldier already launched a right hook towards his chin. He could barely react to the hit, taking a graze across the cheek. The forest dweller still felt a great deal of power behind the punch however, causing him to fall backwards on the spot. Given that Ryal had half expected the punch to land at the exact moment, he managed to break his fall short by shooting his hand to the ground, making him positioned parallel to the pavement road. He then swung a front leg roundhouse across the lizard's bottom calf. His opponent tripped over without even realizing it. Seeing this opportunity arise, Ryal quickly lept off his single hand and flew directly over the soldier falling towards the ground. He jabbed at his midsection, grounding the Arcosian against the road and sending a shock-wave outwards in a perfect circle, causing the surface below the lizard to crack and cave inwards. Immediately after taking the strike, the frost demon shot both of his hands forward, and let loose a burst of energy that sent the defenseless Ryal high into the air, causing him to gasp in surprise.

Ryal was flung high into the air, slowly trying to re-balance himself as best he could. The blond fighter was never talented at flying. In fact, he was horrible at it. He preferred his fights to take place on the ground, but this wouldn't be the case all of the time. He felt that he was about to take complete control of his flight, when the lizard had already recovered and jumped high enough to find himself leveled with Ryal. The forest dweller widened his eyes in shock, right as a side kick struck him right below the side of his ribcage. He was then zipped straight into another intact house forcefully, resulting in a wide gaping hole at the roof of the house, as well as torn floors beneath the roof from where he was flown. Ryal groaned as he climbed to his feet, expecting to see the Arcosian close in the distance once again. The blond fighter was confident in his abilities that he could successfully take down the soldier without much of a problem if the fight had continuously taken closer quarters. Only _if_ that were the case, as he saw the Arcosian keep his position high up in the air. He began forming a small, pink orb of energy at the tip of his index finger. Ryal had widened his stance slightly, as if for preparation to evade. Ryal chose not to attack at this moment, but rather endure what his opponent will dish out until they can fight on the ground again. The blond fighter knew well, that he must play by his own rules, and not the one he was fighting. That rule was very important, especially considering it's what his father had taught him many years prior to today, almost as if everything in his life were to prepare for this.

The Arcosian launched a thin laser from his finger, directing straight down towards Ryal. The blond warrior quickly dashed off to the side of the attack, landing in the middle of the street. The laser had left a powerful blast from where it hit, erupting an explosion that nearly leveled the broken building. It didn't stop there however; the lizard continued firing more lasers at Ryal. He kept on dodging them successfully, prompting the soldier to increase the pacing of his beam attacks. The area began to repetitively light up over and over quicker by each intervals, causing Ryal to come by a few close calls. After successfully managing to dodge every single one, it was only a matter of time before Ryal took a glancing blow to his left shoulder, causing a very sharp heat to occur at that exact moment. He growled in pain, feeling the unbearable burn dent the side of his limb. He immediately looked up, seeing another beam headed straight for him. Ryal managed to dash out of the way before he could suffer another one of those attacks. This time, the human fighter positioned himself a good distance away from the Arcosian, giving him a chance to retaliate instead of continuously dodge. As the lizard fired off another beam of energy, Ryal held both of his palms together outward towards the beam, unleashing his own, larger energy wave that completely overcame the thin beam and struck the Arcosian on the spot by surprise. The blast was only an opening however, as the Arcosian successfully brought up his guard before taking the hit, enough to send him flying backwards just a few feet. The distraction was enough for Ryal to make his way over and leap up into the air, and smash a hammer fist across the lizard's jawline. He was sent crashing towards the earth below, and didn't halt until he had slid across the ground several dozens of feet as the pavement broke apart from where he was sent.

Ryal didn't let up at this moment. He landed a single foot on the ground and persisted after his enemy as fast as possible. His opponent had stood up by the time he got in close, where they quickly engaged in a flurry of kicks and punches. Ryal was far more aggressive however, landing many more blows than the unprepared Arcosian could send. Though it wasn't completely one sided; Ryal was clearly taking the advantage at this time, parrying the punches with much greater ease despite the huge, concentrated power behind them. Eventually, the foot soldier had let up on the close contact, beginning to flee from the close quarters battle and gain some distance. Ryal kept on trying to close the gap between the two, firing off rapid strikes every time he would come within melee range. They all missed however, as the Arcosian warrior kept on avoiding any physical contact whatsoever.

The Arcosian had finally given himself a split second to take action as he gained a sufficient distance away from Ryal. He quickly fired a finger beam as the blond lad charged in. He wasn't able to react as well as he would, given that his focus was primarily on getting in close. Ryal only managed to move off to the side slightly, enough to avoid any critical blow. Instead, the laser had struck his hip. Luckily for the forest dweller, the beam wasn't as powerful as the previous ones, which resulted in a large wound from where the energy attack landed. Ryal yelped out in pain, trying not to lose his concentration over the irritating heat. At the very moment when he was blasted, the lizard quickly dashed in, throwing a haymaker towards Ryal's face. The foot soldier saw an opportunity to land a critical blow just as Ryal did earlier, only to find that the young lad swayed his head over to the outside, avoiding the punch completely. He then brung his elbow forward and hit the Arcosian's solar plexus, dealing massive damage. It was enough to send the frost demon flying back from where he came. Ryal then followed him shortly afterwards, aiming a flying side kick for his face. The lizard had recovered quickly enough though. He leapt straight off to the side and countered by firing off massive loads of smaller ki blasts towards Ryal in a barrage.

The young man zipped his attention over to the incoming ki blasts, deepening his stance and gathering his energy. He didn't want to blindly charge into another energy attack again, so he would have to deal with any incoming energy attacks before he could think of trying to close the gap between himself and his adversary. Both of his fists were drawn back, retracted to the side of his body where he prepared enough energy to deflect the blasts.

"Yaahhh!" Ryal shouted, thrusting his palms forward and sending a strong gush of wind towards the incoming blasts of energy. The attacks were small individually, so the ki blasts were immediately redirected backwards. As the attack had recently finished, the Arcosian snuck under the barrage of ki blasts and approached Ryal with high levels of concentrated energy packed into his right hand. Before he could gain the advantage, the blond fighter had quickly set a small ki blast towards the ground, kicking up loads of dirt meanwhile leaping backwards to gain distance, hoping to create a diversion between the two fighters. As a result, the two had landed not too far away from each other, but not close either. They both panted heavily, having given their all during that battle. It was clear that the fight could go either way, depending on where the advantage was handed off to at this point.

Ryal felt a little more confident around the Arcosians at this point, knowing that he could deal with them when the time comes. What concerned him more was the fact that these Arcosians were merely foot soldiers to a much grander army that Kento had mentioned. The level of strength involved was certainly much greater than what Ryal had himself during this time, only prompting the lad to contemplate the situation even further. _Even if he were to win the battle_ , things simply may not end up well in the end. Here he was, catching his breath as his eyes never left his foe. Ryal kept his versatility strong despite his clear weaknesses in ki and flight. Throughout the course of the battle, he had to have a constant reaction time that surpassed that of his opponent, and take the advantage when he saw it unlatched from the soldier's positioning. It was a battle of exploiting everything he could as well as preventing the enemy from gaining any upper hand. With such clear cut weaknesses, Ryal knew, that he couldn't let his way be tipped by even an inch. He could suffer tremendous consequences from just a single one of the Arcosian's attacks, had he made a single misstep.

He still had a will to continue fighting on, enough so that he could proceed with it many minutes longer. His stamina is certainly something he could rely on in long, drawn out fights. But Ryal had lost any temptation to do with battle any further. His excitement and nervousness had already died down completely, and he already burned through all the adrenaline in his body. The lad could no longer fear death either, because he decided to ride along with it for a decent amount of time. It's a thrilling rush under such parlous circumstances that Ryal had been forced to adapt to it so quickly. The body needed to move instinctively, and so the young fighter was forcing himself past any wandering thoughts or details that would normally convey his mind somewhere else for the simple purpose of staying alive. It's a thing that Ryal could thank his human instincts for; he would subconsciously remember that curiosity is not to dwell on during all times, particularly when your life is on the line.

The Arcosian still hadn't moved, leaving Ryal to be motionless. His breathing gradually calmed down to a more relaxed pacing, also lowering his heart rate. His gaze however, still laid sharp on his adversary. The fight had already reached its climax earlier on, and it would appear that the Arcosian may have reached a similar conclusion. Both lacked a will to fight, because it would potentially drag onto a dreadful stalemate. Ryal began questioning his foe's level of ego, as he curiously thought whether or not the lizard had cared more for a genuine cease to the clash or to fulfill his pride. A better question may be asked; does he even have ego?

Slowly, the frost demon had straightened his back, causing Ryal to widen his eyes, making his heartbeat raise as his instinct told him that the fight was about to proceed. Though his natural senses were wrong, Ryal kept a full interest in what he was doing, keeping still and ready to react accordingly.

"I underestimated you, human. I didn't expect a wonder like yourself to reside in this pathetically weak region." The lizard spoke in a cold voice, though enough to convey a tone of slight interest and respect. This almost made Ryal smile, resulting in a faint smirk, which Ryal had felt ashamed of at the same time. He didn't want to show that he was pleased with the Arcosian's statement, but he couldn't help it.

The lizard lowered his head slightly, beginning to show a slightly more annoyed expression. "There are bound to be outliers wandering around, and it shouldn't be a surprise that few could match up to a soldier such as myself. Your skirmish will be for nothing, so stand down or I'll contact my other comrades to kill you on the spot."

The young lad gritted his teeth, knowing that the situation had changed for the worse to his dismay. He didn't say anything, only that any positive expression on his face had completely deteriorated.

"That also implies that I'll let you live, if you decide not to get in our way." The Arcosian added, smirking as he said so.

Ryal hated being given a direct choice by someone else. He lived off by his own choices, so having his life put on the line through someone else's decision angered him. Ryal had a bit of arrogance from that, considering that he did have some sort of pride that he wanted to show for his father. The blond lad would agree to end the fight in a heartbeat, but the sole fact that he was being told what to do is the only thing drawing him back from taking up on the lizard's offer.

The young man switched his gaze to the ground for the first time, away from the Arcosian. Rain drops scattered around as he viewed the ground, almost heavy and rapid even. Puddles were already formed. _Did he completely overlook the fact that it had been raining for at least a few minutes now?_

His focus on keeping his guard up dropped completely, and instead he focused his attention to the offer he was given. It was only now that he began to realize the weight of the situation and the amount of changes that occurred over the past day. Everything had led up to this moment. And it felt so great, how much a single day could carry on its own. That burden wasn't exactly light.

As Ryal decided to open his mouth, a sudden flash of light had appeared directly between the two fighters, not only giving off a brilliant glare, but also erupting the ground into a very brief earthquake as the being had landed onto the surface quite hard. The blond lad held his forearm high, keeping it in front of his eyes to block the light from blinding his sight. It must have been some kind of aura or display of energy, perhaps a distraction. Ryal didn't know, but he assumed it was the attention he yearned for.

The figure that appeared before the two stood rather short, covered in a light-tan trench coat and a grey newsboy cap. Ryal couldn't make out any other details other than that, for he was completely turned around and facing the Arcosian. He couldn't believe it; his power was absolutely enormous. He felt it for only a split second, almost like a teaser of his true self. He may have still suppressed some of it, but it's clear that this man wasn't a pushover by any means. It's that rare occurrence where Ryal could actually _feel_ one's energy pulsating around them like an aura. The last time he could remember having felt something like that, was when his father was still around. This is the second time he felt someone else's power.

The man had turned his head slightly, as if to say something to the forest dweller. "You did well, kid. We can take it from here."

Ryal said nothing, feeling as if his goal was reached. It wasn't as satisfying as he would have liked, but he held off the lizards and created enough attention to bring over some worthy fighters that could dispatch the Arcosians on the spot. He didn't know what he meant by 'we', but Ryal simply assumed that the man had other people cooperating with him too.

As he turned around to return to the original site where Kento waited, he saw another couple of people fly over and land just a few hundred feet away. He assumed they were after the other two Arcosians that were accompanying the one lizard he just fought. Both also had abnormally large energies that Ryal could barely feel, though enough seeing as they were relatively far away when they flew over. The young lad assumed that they were with the man, meaning that potentially, Fleon would be safe after all. He knew it wasn't _completely_ safe, but unparalleled fighters like these guys are more than suited to easily fend off a wave of foot soldiers. It must have explained why the one man had walked away from that huge skirmish back at the warehouse. It's satisfying enough as it is, seeing as he did his part in doing justice, that of which his father encouraged him to do. It was also a personal settlement with the lizards, despite having fought different soldiers than the ones who ran over his property. He felt that whatever anger or stress he had from that day was already unleashed and disintegrated. Clearly, that grudge wasn't really that strong after all. It was still there, but nothing Ryal would be concerned about so much anymore, especially when his life already switched directions so fast and sudden. There were bigger personal concerns than to get back at some people for getting his wooden cabin torn down to a pile of rubble. If anything, he felt that he needed to uphold some sort of pride or dignity that his father had before he passed away, as well as to make him proud. The man led the way since early childhood, including the art of fighting, and the skill of hunting. All the young lad could do was hope that he was still heading down the right path without a specific guide anymore.

Ryal headed off for the rooftops, leaping across each one swiftly towards the city outskirts. With one last turn, the young fighter had taken a last look at the scene, one that was filled with torn houses and lit fires. Craters were spread across the cracked pavement roads up and down the streets. The whole thing was a ruckus. All of that had come from that one fight, and it was destructive. The fight didn't even have a clear conclusion. Ryal didn't become victorious in the battle, but only in what he wanted to accomplish in the end. Perhaps that is what matters in the end, after all. Considering that he didn't have the necessary power to defeat the Arcosian without some sort of consequence to it. There wouldn't have been a point to ever going there in the first place if it hadn't been for the fact that driving attention was key to exposing the matter.

Pain began to slowly surface as he leapt across each building. His bruises became sore as hell, enough to make him sluggish as he ran from rooftop to rooftop. He almost forgot about those injuries, enough to surprise him to the point of squinting his eyes every time he put pressure on his hip. It felt like a tight squeeze almost, along with a soreness that traveled down his leg from where that ki beam had struck. The rest of the bruises were faint, barely recognizable in comparison to his hip. Even his arm, which also suffered a blazing heat that shot through the skin of his shoulder wasn't that much of a burden. At least he didn't have to put _pressure_ on it every time he wanted to go somewhere. It's nearly gone to the point of convincing Ryal to hop on his one, healthy leg. That way, he could go on without feeling that irritation going on.

Eventually, the blond lad reached the destination where he had dropped off Kento. It was completely dark to the point where Ryal began having trouble to see. Not to mention, the rain stopped a while ago. The young lad took a quick gaze up at the sky, seeing nothing, presumably meaning that the night was still overcast. This meant that there was absolutely no moonlight, therefore making sense that it's ridiculously hard to see. He would have to instead, use his voice.

"Kento?"

No response.

"Hey… Kento!" Ryal spoke a little louder. The sound of a quick zip had occurred. He could then hear a small bit of shuffling behind some leaves to signify that there was someone there.

"Ryal?" Came a response. Of course, the tone was familiar.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm back."

"Good stuff! Come on, get in the tent. We'll camp in here for the night." Kento stated, gesturing his hand towards Ryal. He followed in without question, approaching what felt like a decent sized area for a tent, arguably enough for six people. Kento must have a thing for lots of room.

"You can sleep off in that corner. I made sure to pump up an air mattress just in case you decided to come back." He added, moving off to his own designated corner of the tent.

"You sure come prepared. Who the hell keeps a tent in their shirt pocket anyway?"

"I do." The traveler said bluntly, going under the covers, "So anything happened back there?"

"Yeah, I got in a fight."

"Of course you did. Last time I found you half dead on the ground."

Ryal couldn't help but chuckle. Kento's blunt nature was always so lively, strangely enough. It brought a faint smile to his lips despite his physical condition.

"You got any injuries?" Kento asked.

"Yeah, my hip has a pretty big bruise, as well as my left arm and cheek. Those were the big ones anyway, I'm probably hit everywhere and I'm just beginning to feel it." Ryal admitted.

Kento let out a small laugh, "Y'all acting like heroes. It just turns out that I'm saving your ass from all the troubles. Talk about trying to be a bloody hero. I'm the damn hero for heaven's sake! Where's my reward and respect?"

Ryal didn't speak, only that he knew what Kento was talking about. The guy didn't fight, nor did he really show an interest in it. But despite that, he was the one who saved his life from the lizards. Even after that, Ryal charged back into battle recklessly, only to return with more bruising. All of that, when Kento had the choice to simply turn away and leave him there to die.

"Yeah, whatever. I'll fix your wounds tomorrow. Just deal with it tonight and I'll take a look at it. Was there any poison injected into you?"

"No." Ryal responded.

"Any bleeding?"

"Hardly."

"Alright. I'll heal you up first thing in the morning. I got a light on me, but I'd imagine those Arcosians would be right after us if I attracted any kind of attention. A little blood isn't serious at all, so I'll treat it when the time is right. Sleep tight."

With that, Kento rested his head against his pillow and shut his eyes. Ryal did that same, slowly drifting off to sleep.

 **. . .**

An early morning fog took place in the city. The temperature was moderate, arguably cool. There wasn't much wind blowing from any direction either. The setting appeared calm for the most part, as well as silent. A man wearing a trench coat stood off to the side of a courtyard located in the northeastern sector of Fleon. He leaned up against a pole, occasionally glancing up to see how the interrogation was going. His co-workers were at it well, just as he expected. He returned his glance towards the ground, letting his mind wander wherever it took him, daydreaming to be more accurate. The man took a deep breath in the massively humid air, causing him to feel somewhat uncomfortable. He felt like taking his leave and letting his friends take the job. Fresh air was a necessity of Mother Nature. He felt that without perfectly clean air, his satisfactions weren't met. That's part of the reason why he took up his job here in Terrinosis. Sure, there are plenty of times where it could get pretty humid. Nothing is perfect after all, but at least the region was far more nature-like than any of the other regions. Seadra was too sandy and dry, Getsus is polluted from ground up, Icea is too damn cold, and for heaven's sake he wasn't going to go back around the world _ever._ And of course he needed to make his money's worth, so Terrinosis was ideal for settling. He _knew_ that the Arcosians would plow through Terrinosis first. Anyone with half a brain could tell given the information he had access to, thanks to the International Justice Association, or IJA for short. His employment under the Association had lasted for over two decades. In fact, it was nearing three decades now. Wow, that's a _long_ time. Speaking of which, he could remember the first day he joined like it was last week. Of course when he says or thinks that, he feels like he's an old geezer trying to tell an old folk tale or something.

The man was getting off track again. He had to check up on the interrogation thus far. Instead of taking a quick glance, he pushed himself off the wall and strolled casually towards the tied up lizards that were roped against a stone pillar. His comrade, who appeared to be short and stocky, continued his constant thrashing about the damn invasion and all. The lizards didn't like confessing at all, and each were treated with a death sentence for not saying so. Seriously, these Arcosians have some serious balls to just face death like that. Not that he cared much; they probably didn't give a damn about their own lives. That or, they were manipulated in some way, which he would find out one way or another. In that case, it's probably a good idea to save one just in case.

"Hey, Garmogin. Keep that one as hostage. I don't care if he's as resilient as the others." The man commanded.

"Yes sir!" The other soldier responded, continuing his interrogation as usual. He could only sit by and watch as each Arcosian continuously give their lives away to some lizard who thinks he's hot shit. What startled him was the fact that every single one of them had some crazy devotion to their leader, like they'd be willing to sacrifice all of their limbs and bring themselves through the worst kind of torture imaginable. It's hard to believe that. It's only proper that there's one to keep along the ride just to see if any changes occur over time. Stuff like this doesn't match the studies at all. Arcosians don't behave like this normally.

"Marvin!" Someone called out from behind. He turned around to see his second comrade approaching from the air. He landed just then when he finished turning. This was the guy who was supposed to scout out for anything new. From the looks of his face, something was going on surely.

"There's a huge massacre going on in the western districts. It'll be impossible to evacuate the rest of the citizens into the forested areas. We'll have to travel east." He informed, taking in deep breaths.

"Well shit." He cursed, sighing as the thought sink in. Going east meant evacuating everyone into a dry ass desert, particularly Seadra. That's the one region that doesn't have a recorded population, only that it is assumed that Saiyan bandits are scattered around there stealing for food and shelter. In other words, it's the worst case scenario they would have to follow through with. Marvin smacked his palm against his forehead in spite of the idea. He had no interest in it.

"Alright uh, gather everyone to the center of the courtyard. Tell them to bring as much food and water as they can; they'll need it." He ordered.

"Yes sir!" The soldier responded, taking off the instant the order was given. Marvin then took another glance at the progress of the interrogation.

"I don't want to die! Spare me, please!"

This immediately attracted his attention, enough to convince him to make his way over to the tied up Arcosians.

"Speak up then." Garmogin insisted, booting the lizard right in his chin. Blood dripped down from the thing's mouth, as well as a mark placed right beside his lip.

"I will, just let me speak for once!" The lizard retorted. Garmogin was convinced to boot the thing's face again for disrespect, though Marvin rose a hand to stop his comrade from attacking again.

"Let him talk." Marvin spoke, looking straight at the Arcosian, whom unlike others, was actually confessing. It's strange, really, seeing as how it's completely contrary to the others.

"There are… four generals. One of them is leading an army to invade this region…"

Garmogin and Marvin looked straight at each other from hearing this knowledge. Apparently there's more to this than they had originally thought.

"These generals are currently ruling over Icea right now, enforcing everyone to go to war at the cost of their lives if they objected… I just so happen to be a bit rebellious." The beaten foot soldier faltered, sounding even more raspy than usual.

" _Four_ you're saying?" Marvin responded.

The lizard formed a faint smirk, "Contrary to popular belief, it just so happens to be that we're ruled by _four_ people, not _one._ "

Marvin raised a brow for an instant, "Alright, I'm takin' you in. We promised not to kill anyone who confessed, so keep your life. It'll be in our hands for now. Garmogin, take him in with the other one after this is done. Keep the interrogation going." The man ordered before turning around, hearing a "Yes sir!" go off behind his ears.

He stood by waiting at the courtyard for a bit more time, awaiting his other companion to return with a crowd of people. Both of them were Saiyans, powerful ones indeed. Most of the people in the Association were Saiyans. Both Garmogin and Saite were pretty good to have by your side. They were reliable, powerful, loyal, and pretty straight forward too. Unlike what most would expect from such a pride-filled race, these two will follow orders at any time. Marvin almost felt lucky that he had such good companions to stick with for the whole operation, one that will last a while of course. Four generals was certainly a surprise, when it was originally thought that Icea was led by a dictator, not a few generals.

Marvin leapt up to a rooftop, managing to peak over the gradually clearing fog to see the sunrise slowly lift up from the horizon. The heat of its light began to lightly touch his face in a calming manner. Early mornings like this were kind of nice to have. Marvin always found himself looking at sunrises more often than sunsets. It's more interesting to see the light slowly reveal itself rather than disappear over the horizon, at least in his eyes. Nothing like a good display every morning. The overcast night had finally ended, and the sky was much clearer above the fog.

A new adventure was certain, and the man could already feel the excitement brimming in his heart. Today was going to be a good day.

* * *

 **I'm still around. Also check up on chapter 2's revise if you've read it prior to this chapter's release.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Two lizard-like beings set up against a wall inside a dark room, locked up in ki nullifying chains that rendered their strength and powers to nothing. Neither one attempted to escape let alone bother to get off the dusty floor. There only existed a small window at one corner of the room where the sunlight ray shined its way through and lit it up enough for anyone to see. All there could be seen however, was the lack of furniture and where the two sat next to each other, with cuffs practically squeezing their scaly wrists.

One looked up and around the room out of boredom, as if to do something or go somewhere. The other however, continued to stare off at the ground like a drone that had its batteries permanently removed. The one Arcosian couldn't help but examine his other comrade, and stare at the face of whom he once fought for in the name of Icea and his great leader. _Just another dead mind_ he thought. Curiously, he turned his posture towards the other Arcosian to adjust his attention to him more strongly.

"You appear to be zoning out. Anything on your mind?" he asked.

"No." the other Arcosian huffed.

"You still planning on throwing away your life when it calls for it?" the other one questioned.

"I will give my life away to support the homeland in anyway I can" he responded monotonously.

He sighed out of frustration, "So you're still drugged down to the bone."

The other Arcosian remained silent, not even paying mind to the comment that was practically thrown at him. He couldn't believe how tremendously effective it was to just simply hand everyone a pill and let it do its work. In such a short amount of time, Icea has been transformed into a bloodlusted nation crawling with marching pawns under a few delinquent individuals, playfully manipulating everyone like some sort of jaunty devilry. It's sickening to witness someone become so giddy over controlling minds of the nation, and even more so when others welcome it so much to the point of unconditional love. Like children they say, when all is fooled by showing them what they want and simultaneously grasping every inch of their soul and commanding it at will.

But could they get away with all that? That's a question he longed to know the answer to, and seeing a nation continuously cripple intellectually is quite often convincing. _In that case. . ._

"I'm breaking out." The Arcosian pronounced, leaning up and beginning to stand on his two feet. The other one didn't respond, only to raise his face just a few inches in acknowledgement of the statement.

"I dunno about you, but I'm sick of associating with you people." he added, grinding his teeth against the nearly unbreakable chains.

"Then you'll be hunted down by the empire and be treated as a traitor."

He just rolled his eyes in response, focusing his attention on trying to break the ki-nullifying chains. His sharper teeth managed to create a dent inside them, but not enough to break them. He continued to bite at them relentlessly, eventually cutting through deeper until he was free.

As the chains broke, a breath of relief left the Arcosian's lips as he felt his aura surface and envelop his body. His strength immediately returned as this happened, and he stood up on his feet much quicker and smoother than he had expected. He turned back to the other, staring at his old friend, whom rose his head slightly just to return the glare. Nothing was said at that point, as he turned around and walked to the back door. He peeked his head through the one window firstly. The room they were in was moving along in the sandy dunes. In other words, he was being transported to some station in Seadra, away from the forests of Terrinosis.

"We're in Seadra?" He mused to himself quietly, getting a larger glimpse at the terrain they were in. Nothing appeared to be in sight, other than a few thousand pedestrians walking from behind in an orderly fashion, led by largely built guards. He must have been caught in the group of refugees after the invasion, meaning he was likely to be put to more questioning at some time in the future.

 **. . .**

The walls of the tent slowly lit up as the early morning sun rose. Kento's eyes peeled themselves open, fixated on the capsules in the shirt pocket that sat across from him. He lazily threw his arm towards the wrinkly shirt he wore the day before and began to rummage his hand around, finding the right capsule to use. After finding it, he clicked it and tossed it to another end of the tent. The capsule then exploded, where a portable coffee maker emerged from the smoke that came from the capsule. This sound of the capsule inevitably caused Ryal to wake up. He shot his eyes open and leaped up to his feet before banging his head against the tent's ceiling. He fell afterwards back onto his behind.

"Gahh!" Ryal shouted in pain, rubbing his head from where he hit himself.

"Careful. The tent isn't made of common fabric y'know." Kento commented, crawling over to the coffee maker and pressing the power button on it.

Ryal sighed, beginning to raise his eyebrows and widened his eyes to adjust to the daylight. Instinctively, he reached over his rear, normally expecting to find a table to find his swords on. However, being unable to find it, he quickly turned his head around only to see the tent wall.

"Shit" he cursed, sighing once again. He forgot that he was no longer at home. He didn't have anything with him except for his torn clothing.

"What is it?" Kento questioned.

"I just remembered. I left a lot of important stuff back at my place. I dunno how far it is from here either."

"It's pretty far, but if you could travel maybe around forty kilometers northwest from here, you could probably do it." he stated as a matter of fact.

"How much is that?" Ryal asked, sitting up straight.

"About twice the distance we walked last night to get to Fleon." he answered, grabbing his instant coffee and giving it a sip. He then reached behind the coffee maker to grab another mug before looking back at Ryal, "Want some coffee?"

Ryal shrugged, "Sure."

Kento pressed the mug up against a button, and coffee came out and into the cup, holding it there until it was roughly three fourths full.

"Sugar?"

Ryal shook his head. Kento then handed him the cup of coffee. Ryal stared down into the heated mug, giving it a sniff. He might as well, considering he won't be able to hunt efficiently until he grabs his equipment back at his house. The coffee will have to do for now.

Ryal nearly gulped down the entire mug in one go. Immediately, his eyes nearly shot out of head as he spat out the all of the coffee he drank.

"Hot!" He screamed, sticking his tongue out to let the air cool down the burning sensation. Kento chuckled at this as he sipped his coffee again.  
"Coffee is kinda hot y'know. Don't worry about it; you'll get used to it."

"Yeah, you could've told me that earlier." Ryal spoke before heading for the tent exit. "I'll be back in a few."

"What?" Kento replied. He turned to see Ryal, but it was too late. He already took off. Curiously, Kento crawled out of the tent with his coffee in hand in search for Ryal. By the time he got out, the young man was already gone and out of sight. He sighed a little before heading back into the tent to clean up the mess Ryal made.

 **. . .**

Ryal continued to dash through hilly forests, where the land slowly began to get a little more familiar with each mile he crossed. It turns out the city wasn't too far from where he lived afterall. Had he explored a little further than he normally had, he could've found it before meeting Kento, which admittedly, would've made things a bit easier for him. The forest was something he studied for such a long time, so much that Ryal could locate any part of the forest and know exactly where it was. It's very much similar to being a city dweller. One will know the exact location of a store just by distinguishing a few factors in that area. The landscape changes very slightly in different areas of a town, which is more than enough for a person to recognize and memorize practically every spot in the city. For Ryal, it's the exact same for forests. Many normal people can't tell, but he could distinguish many parts of the forest. He can tell exactly which lake he arrives at, and at which location of the forest he's in by the density of the trees and the mountains nearby. By knowing this, Ryal couldn't possibly miss his home simply by touching the radius of his once untouched homeland, before it was trampled down by a bunch of cold lizards.

As he continued leaping from tree to tree, he came across one end of a lake. He grinned at this fact, and leapt right over the surface of it. He had jumped far enough to land on the other side of the lake, exactly where he had meditated before his home was destroyed.

Ryal felt the rock's texture at his feet, feeling quite familiar though slightly different, as if it was contaminated by some uproar that had brought the forest down. Uphill, he could see an opening in the trees from where the Arcosians had chopped down the trees, as well as the fragments of his house lying in pieces. Slowly, the young man began to walk uphill and approach his old home for any treasures that he would bring with him along the way. His anger from the incident was surfacing again just from the mere sight of the broken house. He set foot on the pile of snapped wooden planks scattered across the yard. Ryal knelt down and began to dig through the crippled debris, particularly for his hunting weapons. As he dug through, he found an older picture covered in dust. Ryal gave it a quick blow to get the dust off, only to see his dad in his early age with his mother, and himself when he was little. The glass on the front was cracked however, but he paid no mind to that. He simply tugged it in his gi before searching his bag, which was left right next to the picture of his parents. The young man pulled out the bag and began gathering a few important things such as cleaner clothing, souvenirs, and most importantly, his weapons. He carried twin machetes used primarily for hunting, but also to greatly boost his abilities in combat. He always carried an extra one just in case.

Once everything was gathered, he strapped the small green bag over his shoulder along with his two other machetes that he kept holstered on his back. Along the way back he should probably catch food, if there is any. If anything, all the wildlife were probably killed or fled off to who knows where. Just as he was about to take off for the tent, Ryal felt a slight disturbance over by the lake. He reacted immediately, dashing over towards the beach just dozens of yards over from where the house once was. Once he arrived, he looked down to see a short figure standing just outside the lake. It had the familiar horns sticking out of its head. It held a staff in its right hand, and stared out towards the calm lake. Ryal just realized how quiet it was out here, even with the Arcosian standing just a few yards away. _He could kill him right there_. _And_ _get revenge for what they did!_

"I've been waiting for you to come back." It spoke. The shrivelled voice rang in his ears, echoing across the lands against its consent. He could feel the bloodlust emanating from the creature, without even having to stare in its eyes.

It slowly turned, meeting Ryal with a powerful gaze. "You mean more to us than you think, Ryal."

The young lad rose a brow, confused as to how he knew his name. However this thing found out about his name is thought intriguing at the very least. Even with the sheer confusion and frustration Ryal felt with what was going on, a spark of interest arouse fairly from within. With mixed feelings, the young lad prompted to open his mouth and speak, only to stumble himself the moment he tried to form a sentence.

"No need to ask. We've already gotten hold of your identity. It turns out we've uncovered a lot of questions we've had for a long time."

"What?" Ryal spat out, wondering what exactly he meant by that.

"All you need to know is to listen to what I've had to say." The frost demon insisted. It was at that moment Ryal recognised him from earlier. It was the one who rode that weird contraption over his home just days ago.

"This is a matter about your father, Ryal. Do you know where he is at this moment?"

Ryal stood silent for a moment, thinking to answer truthfully or give a blatant lie. It's such a strange, bizarre thing to see that exact being, who lashed out angrily back then, now forming an admittedly creepy but formal conversation.

"I suggest you answer truthfully." He added, before jamming his staff into the ground and digging it into the rocks beneath him.

"Well," Ryal began, thinking more and more about the situation, thinking whether or not it was a good idea to come here to begin with. "You're just one among many responsible for running over my home and causing havoc everywhere. Normally I don't hold grudges, but I'm wondering why you're concerned with my father."

The Arcosian's expression didn't change, "I see you're curious as well. Alright then, I'll give you a little bit about what we're going on about."

Ryal's ears perked up. Though he questioned why the Arcosian would give out information to his enemy freely, he paid no mind to it currently. He was all ears at this point.

"Your father is a well known figure, primarily for being a world champion at boxing and a highly-renowned martial artist, that I'm sure you already know. According to the information we gathered, your father disappeared into hiding, presumably here to raise children such as yourself, correct?"

Ryal nodded, "But what does this have to do with you?"

The Arcosian intensified his glare, "Our soldiers are reporting sightings of him from all over the continent, and he's causing a great deal of problems to our soldiers."

Ryal's eyes widened in shock, "You mean, he's not dead?"

The Arcosian raised a brow, "Dead? What are you going on about..?"

The young man sighed, "He's supposed to be dead. I remember him passing away from some disease years ago on my couch. I even dug him a grave and everything."

"So that's where you think he is?" The lizard questioned, beginning to approach Ryal closer.

Quickly, he pulled out his machete and held it out at the lizard with his arm fully extended, "Don't come near me. If you want, I'll show you where my father's grave is. This is _only_ if you'll leave this place and never come back again, alright?"

"I'm surprised you're freely giving me all this information without so much putting up a fight. I can offer you anything, really. This is all too easy." He responded smugly.

"Just count yourself lucky. For the record, I'm kind of interested about my father's whereabouts too." He retorted before turning around. "Follow me." He insisted.

The tall human began to lead the lizard through a series of trees and bushes. Several minutes had gone by as he weaved his way through the bush. Ryal then led him up a nearby mountain, going all the way to the summit where the ground was covered in rock and snow. At the top, one could see the land out from several miles. The temperature dropped quite drastically too. Eventually, they walked inside a small cave, with a tombstone engraved into the ground just at the end of the tunnel. The sun's light peaked in just enough for the print on it to be seen. Ryal knelt down and began to dig away at the rocky ground with his bare hands, until he found a wooden coffin just a few feet deep. Nervously, Ryal opened the coffin, only to find it to be completely empty. There was no body or remnants of one inside the coffin. He froze at the sight of it, unable to say anything in response.

"Well then, it seems to me that your father is still alive. What a coincidence." The Arcosian from behind him spoke out.

He walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked around, "A promise is a promise. I will be leaving for good."

"So you won't attempt to kill me or…?"

Ryal turned his head towards the exit of the cave, only to find the Arcosian disappear from sight. He got up and walked over to the cliff, squinting his eyes a bit to adjust to the light that struck him from just ahead. The view was just like the old days, and only now he has a different goal in mind. His father is still alive, somewhere.

 **. . .**

Kento turned around to see a familiar blond-haired man appear right next to a tree. He shot a faint smile after seeing his return, "You're back! That didn't take long at all."

Ryal sighed a bit, "Yeah, I got everything. It's time to head out of here."

"Good, because we got a pretty massive journey ahead of us." Kento replied, taking off for the east.

Curiously, Ryal pursued after Kento and walked over next to him, "Why is that?"

"Well," Kento began, pulling out a map and unrolling it to see where they were headed. Judging by the labels, they were heading towards a massive desert labelled 'Seadra'. There wasn't a lot of things in the desert either besides a couple of villages. "We're here, and our next destination is to get to Seadra's capital, which is pretty far. It's one of the only settlements in the entire continent that is provided with markets and stores. Y'know, modern civilization. Even though this is a bit behind in technology, we can manage."

"Where is it exactly?" Ryal asked, scanning the map for any labels that may suggest it.

"Firstly, we'll have to walk along here, until we reach this destination." Kento replied, before trailing his finger to the edge of the map. He then pulled out another map from his bag, which began from where the other one ended off. He continued blabbering on about locations and whatnot, going through numerous maps before finally pointing to the correct destination.

"...And at last, here we are! Cevine, located at the northern coast of this region. The settlement is at the very edge of the region, bordering a large ocean that separates Icea and Seadra. Cevine is often known to be one of the largest centers of trade in the world. Neat, huh?"

Ryal was silent throughout that whole speech, thinking of ways to drive the conversation to something else.

"So uh, looks like we have a lot of desert to walk through?" He presumed, before receiving a nod from Kento.

"That, and if we're not cautious of where we're going, there's a possibility we'll encounter bandits and thieves that reside these lands. Traditionally, Saiyans often come here to train and live off by stealing, and doing jobs that are often frowned upon but enough to get by. The general notion is that if you can fight, coming here is a pretty suitable place to live in."

Ryal nodded, "Saiyans huh? You mean those creatures with the tails possessing abnormal strength?"

"Yeah, sorta. If that's what you want to call them." Kento responded.

"My dad told me about them when I was little. Admittedly, I was sort of excited at the thought of meeting one, but I never did. They sort of remind me of the monsters from the horror stories my mother read to me before I slept."

Kento held himself back from laughing a bit, "Oh, you'd be surprised. Very surprised…"

"So they're scary lookin'? So what? I bet I can kick their asses just like I did to that bloody lizard back in Fleon!"

Kento didn't leave a remark. All he did was gesture Ryal to follow his direction as he headed off eastward around the once thriving city of Fleon. The two walked great distances silently, watching the environment around them transform from dense forest to the lifeless wasteland of Seadra. The sun grew higher and hotter with each passing moment, along with the sand seeping under their toenails through each step into the unclaimed region. They came across many footprints of fleeing passengers, and thin tracks of vehicles that tread the sand.

Ryal's exhaustion was slowly catching up to him. It's a damn shame he couldn't find food on the way back to the tent, and surely there won't be any food out in the desert. He looked over to Kento as he was practically dragging his feet against the sand.

"Hey, Kento. Got any water or somethin'?"

"Yeah, I got some on me. Just be sure to preserve it because it's gonna be a while before we reach our next destination." Kento warned, lending his companion a bottle of water. Ryal couldn't help but gobble down a good chunk of the water supply before handing it back to Kento. He was pretty damn thirsty undoubtedly, but he could go a while longer without any food.

As they continued travelling the vast desert, Ryal kept himself busy by examining the photo of himself and his parents from years earlier. It's hard to believe that his father was still around after all that time, and how he managed to fake his death. Going up to his 'demise', Ryal had gone through tests that continuously became harder and harder exponentially. He was really pushing himself to the limit at that point, which greatly influenced his training routine throughout the previous years of being alone with the wild. The young man could only question whether or not his father was actually _still_ testing him after all this time in an expedition across continents. Maybe this is precisely what he needed to do, instead of doing the same thing throughout each day.

Kento squinted his eyes as he attempted to look off into the distance, "Are those a couple of stragglers from Fleon?" He asked. Ryal stopped in his tracks and looked over to where Kento pointed.

"Yeah, there's a couple of guys over there. Looks like they're just sitting there or something." He stated, before looking over to Kento.

Kento nodded his head and shrugged, "Whatever. We should probably help."

They took off for the steep hill and began to descend, eventually reaching the bottom before jogging over to the stranded individuals. The closer they became, the wind began to pick up and lift some of the sand off the ground. Instinctively, the two rose their arms to protect themselves from sand getting in their eyes. To Ryal however, the figures seemed more suspicious the closer they came, even with the sand beginning to block their vision. Just as they were about to reach their location, Ryal was suddenly struck right at the side of the head, hard enough to lift him off the ground and hit a nearby cliffside. Kento on the other hand, oblivious to everything, kept pressing forward through what could now be considered a sandstorm. He successfully reached the spot where he found the people were at, only to find that they were merely bluffs consisting of a crafted wooden body wearing clothes to simulate the appearance of a man. After seeing this, he turned around to see Ryal, only to find him completely gone.

Immediately, Kento began to panic. He looked around, calling out for Ryal's name precedingly. He called out his name again several times, with no answer. All there was to hear was the sand and the wind brushing against his body. He slowly pulled a knife out of his pocket in fear of any nearby enemies that could possibly lure them into this trap. It was too late however, as Kento too, was knocked over unconscious.

Ryal leaned up and rubbed his head, squinting his eyes as he tried to see through the heavy sand being blown everywhere. He held a hand forward to block it from getting in his face as he got to his feet and searched around for the one who hit him. He heard Kento's blurred out voice from the wind, which eventually came to a halt. Ryal could only worry about his companion, as he slowly made his way through the sand.

About a few minutes later, the sandstorm had already ceased, leaving little to no evidence of Kento's or the intruder's existence. All he could make out was the footprints Kento made all the way up to the fake men with ripped clothing scattered around, and the body print Kento made by presumingly falling over. Ryal figured the one that attacked them must have been in flight somehow, given the lack of footprints of any other existing person in the desert. At that point, Ryal decided to quickly find a high ground to get a good view of the landscape. He dashed over to one in a matter of seconds, and looked around the horizon. At a first glance, there wasn't anyone to be seen, which prompted Ryal to look even closer. Unfortunately, the only thing he could see was a bare blue sky, and sandy hills scattered everywhere. It was a dull scene, unlike any of the amazing views he got from uptop the mountains at home or the cliff outside of Fleon.

Ryal sighed and fell over on his bottom, relaxing himself on his hands and kept hold of his breath. Feelings of anger and frustration circulated within. There was always a constant threat no matter where they went. Of course, despite being warned, Ryal wasn't on guard during the whole incident. He wasn't ready when he absolutely needed to be. Not to mention, he is quite literally in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing. It's all a dune sea from east to west, and north to south.

This also sparked a thought within Ryal's mind. Afterall, they did run into a trap and inconveniently got caught by a sandstorm, blinding their vision and nullifying their hearing. _Inconveniently, which only lasted for the time they were struck_. Afterall, everything around looks like wind-swept sand all across the horizon. Either mother nature keeps this chunk of land as her playground, or the attacker likes to play with sand to catch its prey.

Ryal rested for a while, plotting what his next action will be. He's starting to be on the brink of starvation, and in dire for water, which is scarce in these parts. Firstly, he'll need to backtrack to find the footprints he came across earlier and follow them. If he could find people, he may have access to water. The task also shouldn't take long, considering how much distance he can cover in a short time. Otherwise, he could go looking for Kento, which would most likely be a

wasted effort and require a bit more clues to solve.

He got up after half an hour of resting, and raced back to where they came from originally. He found the first large set of footprints they came across and reversed his direction. He dashed off after the footprints.

 **. . .**

Across one end of the city of Fleon, Arcosians were reunited and pressing forward against a resistance of the Terronosis military. Considering the majority of the population were humans, many of the soldiers were equipped with a full suit of armor that enhanced their speed, strength and reaction time several fold, while equipped with an effective blaster capable of putting down many of the Arcosians in just a few shots. They were holding their own quite well, managing to gain an upper hand for many of the earlier parts of the fight by possessing shock advantage. It was when the lizards had all gathered together to put an end to their advantage and flip the tables. The humans were losing significantly at this point.

To the southwest, some of the squadron leaders for the Terronian forces set up a defensive barrier across the highway that split Fleon into two parts. Their casualties were becoming hefty and they were desperate for a full on retreat. However, one man in particular kept the army's moral in check, and set up a brilliant plan to stop the Arcosians from advancing even further.

One soldier, wearing a dark blue suit with plated metal armor and a short blaster approached the leader, "Sir! Their general is approaching! What do we do?"

The leader, wearing a similar uniform but only without the helmet to show the large scar that went across his left cheek didn't respond, only narrowing his eyes at the thought of fighting the Arcosian's best fighter. However, out of sheer bravery he rose his great sword, and shouted, "We shall fight back!" as loud as he could, recieving a battle-loving war cry in return with the soldiers.

The man nodded his head in return, saluting with a "Yes sir!" before running off to the defensive lines. The squad leader examined the blood-filled blade that he carried, keeping a head count of the lizards he beheaded with the blade he loved dearly. He set foot at the edge of the walled off highway, staring down the numerous streets perpendicular to the highway. He could see the Arcosians approaching quickly from the ground, as well as the air they covered. Before they could arrive, the leader rose an arm and pointed his finger towards the incoming enemy.

"Fire!" He voiced off to his troops, signalling them to unleash the barrages of bullets emanating from their blasters. The moment was only lasting mere milliseconds at a time, as their reaction time and ability to experience time was slowed down vastly for the pure purpose of combating the foreigners, and therefore their approaching enemy would appear to take a fair amount of time to arrive. Lights continuously filled the air and knocked many of the charging lizards out of the air, resulting in fatal death in the deserted city below before the rest stampeded their lifeless bodies. Corpses quickly built up closer and closer as the front lines progressed through the streets, and the numbers in the air lessened. Their general on the other hand, didn't flinch at the strike of a bullet, and merely brushed it off like it was nothing. Fearful, many of the soldiers began to flee whereas the brave stood at the front and fought like madmen.

One Arcosian approached the human leader, only to meet with a blade slicing across its leathery neck, ending the lizard's life. He smiled, and leaped forward, turning on his jet pack to combat the incoming troopers invading the bridged highway. Some of the elite class soldiers unsheathed their swords and followed along with their leader, slicing away at the Arcosians. Many were shot with beams and fell limp, along with the limbs of the northern creatures piling up beside them. Men were struck hard enough to be fatal despite their well constructed armor, and even a few Arcosians were beaten down by fists as a last resort attack. It was a frenzy to see who could last the longest against the endless barrage of attacks. Of course, after many casualties, the general of the lizard army showed up in front of the human leader. The man turned to see the much larger Arcosian, appearing in a much different form than the common final form that is seen. He was much larger, towering the man with demon-like horns sticking out of its head. With a battle cry, the leader swung his sword with all of his might towards the Arcosian's mid-section, only to shatter upon impact. His eyes widened, and fear struck him like it never had before. The general smirked and grabbed the man's head before squeezing it in his hand, shattering the skull like breaking a toothpick. Blood splattered everywhere, and the general tossed aside the leader like a rag doll. Without warning, the rest of the soldiers fled the scene, meanwhile being chased by the still incredibly massive load of Arcosian troops to sweep the area.

"My lord, General Sarium wishes to speak with you." One of the soldiers informed. The general didn't reply, only turning around and returning back to the centre of the city.

As he flew over the torn landscape of houses burning down in rubble, he could only think of ways of rebuilding the whole city and reclaiming it as his own. It would be a waste to see it rot away and claimed by common wildlife. He returned downtown, which appeared to be a war torn area full of fallen buildings and streets that have been completely wrecked by explosions. He found his comrades and lowered himself to the ground, landing beside his fellow general and son that stood next to him.

"General Tanscontine, it's an honor to see your success with my battle strategy." Sarium welcomed, bowing down to the other general. Both appeared to be in their suppressed forms unlike their soldiers, also being incredibly large in size. Tanscontine looked down to his son, who also adopted a similar form, only being much shorter than normal.

"Leo, I see you've had your fair share for battling the humans?" Tanscontine spoke, leaning down to his son's level and placing his hand on his shoulder.

"They're weak and pathetic." The young lizard spat bluntly, staring back at his father with narrow eyes. He had a clear look of disappointment, one that spoke much about his spoiled personality.

"Hmmf." Tanscontine spoke, before standing up straight and crossing his arms. "I see you want an enemy worthy of your strength?"

"There isn't a man in all of Glamia's lands that can stand up to my power. It's aggravating, and it makes me want to exterminate everything that is weak!" He spat angrily.

"Then the weak shall perish, my son." The father replied before turning to the other general. "That reminds me, I was thinking of rebuilding this heap of trash."

"You are? Well we haven't finished the conquest yet. Soon we will establish everything in due time." Sarium responded.

Suddenly, Tanscontine rose a piece of rubble that had once been intact with the city streets. Using his ki, he brought the piece into his hand and began to slowly toss it up and down, pondering about what his next action will be. He wasn't a very patient man, and preferred everything to get done as soon as possible. He looked off into the distance, particularly where the last remnants of the battle took place. His gaze then travelled back to Sarium, the general that had formed the entire battle and campaign against Terrinosis, as well as the military tactics, all of which were a complete success. There wasn't much more to gain from relying on their troops for everything when time was at stake at this point. The world will soon know of their actions, and they couldn't afford to take time.

"Sarium, your battle strategy is a complete success. The heavens will soon know of your unmatched intellect and ability as a tactician," he began, crushing the piece of debris in his palms.

"Please, allow me to fix up the last remnants of their petty resistance." He continued, raising his tone significantly.

Sarium's expression didn't change in the slightest, "You want me to order my troops out of the battlefield?" He presumed, almost smirking at the thought of seeing his companion raise a little hell at this particular occasion.

Tanscontine smiled, "You've learned Sarium. You know I have very little patience."

Sarium got to work immediately, beginning to order his troops to take the skies as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the ground began to shake very slightly, and lighter debris levitated into the air around the street. Fragile buildings had collapsed under their shattered foundations. Leo on the other hand, didn't seem to care in the slightest, kicking away rocks fairly casually out of sheer boredom.

The instant Tanscontine saw his chance, he rose his power just enough to affect the whole city. All at once, everything was suddenly engulfed in a massively destructive aura that disintegrated everything. All of the men that were fighting to the bitter end became vaporized in a flash of light that saw the end to the city of Fleon. And now, the birth of a new empire was at its dawn, seeing the light of day that rose straight over the horizon.

The light died down, and the energy that had been unleashed came to a halt. The landscape that was once inhabited by man is now a super flat wasteland, perfect for constructing a new city on top of the old one. Tanscontine turned to his fellow comrade, spreading his arms to empathize on the sheer glory of his power.

"Glorious!" He practically sang, filled with his own pride.

"Perhaps I should raise this as a city of my own. Sarium! Order your troops to build me a throne decorated with the riches of this land, and surround the city with impenetrable walls and shields that will prevent anyone from entering." He spoke, stroking his chin as he eyed down the flat landscape.

Sarium perked up at this with a wide grin, "I'll gather up all the architects we have and reconstruct this wasteland."

"Do it." Tanscontine replied. "And hire some of our best men to build a palace for me. It must be top notch. From now on, this city shall be renamed 'Tanscontinopolis'" He added.

Sarium laughed a bit, astonished by the fact that he could see everything for miles, and how the trees that once sat around the perimeter of the town were vanquished. He turned back to his companion while chuckling a bit more.

"You're willing to name this pile of rubble after yourself?" Sarium said.

Tanscontine smirked, "Soon, it'll be much greater than before. I'm just establishing my legacy, of course."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The young traveler in glasses awoke in the way he least expected. His shoulders felt an intense strain, like it was being stretched from either side immensely. Down the arm it felt number with each following inch, and the weight of his lower half long endured the pain of steadily splitting apart over the course of days. Soreness thrived in the back of his neck and clung there, which could be felt harshly when raising the gaze. His feet hung just as much as the rest of his body did. There wasn't a mattress nor even a conceivable ground to relax on. It was all in the bloody and bruised wrists and ankles.

Kento's eyelids opened sluggishly. The dry stiffness in his face triggered his senses, prompting him to blink several more times and make weird motions with his cheeks and lips. The young man looked around the room, which appeared to be a poorly organised farmer's cabin of some sort. In the middle he saw a dining table with a few chairs, along with numerous tools and utensils hung along the opposing wall. The small and round windows on each wall appeared dirty and riddled with sand and dust on the outside, preventing any kind of proper vision of the outside world. There were open archways that led to other areas of the house, though not large presumably. Not a single door existed except for the one that lead outside. The ground was predominantly sandstone, along with articles of clothing scattered across the floor, mainly comprised of dark colored pants and sleeveless tops. Next to him was a cozy-looking sofa, also covered with clothes on one of the arm rests, along with a small television that sat on a desk across from it.

After examining the room a little, he looked up to see himself chained and hung by the wrists from the ceiling, like a stored piece of salted meat inside the deck of an old ship. He sighed through a dry breath, suddenly feeling a strong need for water as he did so. The dusty air brushed up against his parched throat as it proceeded to enter his lungs, inevitably causing him to wheeze out a weak cough. His stomach didn't respond well either, which happened to be a gaping growl that made Kento's eye wince slightly and instinctively loosen his jaw as if to think about something tasty. The traveller looked down into his shirt pocket, finding nothing of the sort. In fact, his backpack and extra capsules were stored at that opposite corner of the room. Go figure.

Even with the severity of the situation, there was a different thing that sprout from his mind. Of course, this room isn't at all familiar in the slightest and brings upon the obvious question of 'where the hell am I?' What was deeply concerning was why somebody decided to chain him up. Most people would knock out the person, take their stuff, and leave! He was being chained up for a specific _reason_. What in the bloody world does someone want to do with a wee-sized fellow with glasses thicker than a brick? Perhaps someone needed help with their math assignments?

The only way to answer this is by means of communication. It may not be the wisest thing because after all, he is held captive by a supposed thug Saiyan person who could probably vaporize him in an instant. It's not like it really matters at this point, however. If he is to become a cloud of ashes withering away in the lost deserts of Seadra, so be it.

"H-Hello?" Kento managed to mutter out. There didn't appear to be a response, or even evidence of a person present in the little household. Slowly, clearing his throat, Kento tried again.

"Hello?"

For a second, there wasn't a response, prompting Kento to make a last attempt, intending to speak louder and clearer this time.

"He…"

A young looking female came marching through one of the archways, halting just as she entered the room. Kento's speech immediately drove to a halt as soon as she made her presence known, and all he could do is stare at the girl. Wait, a girl? He blinked once, twice, and again, just to get a clearer look at her. Yes, indeed it is a woman. She didn't give off the impression of being angry or intense, nor was she any kind of nice girl that giggled all the time in your homeroom classes back at school. She just appeared, normal, a bit serious albeit but normal. Was this the chick that willingly kept him prisoner in this bloody mess of a house?

"You're awake." She spoke, sounding much less innocent than Kento initially thought. Strange how he expected it to be different, despite the fact that she had a couple of scars on her body and such. She's probably just another Saiyan who had a way to get by. But why did she keep him tied up?

"Why am I here?" Kento mumbled out.

The girl began approaching the chained man, making slow steps as she observed him up and down. Kento on the other hand, felt a bit of impatience uprising. He was about to speak again, only to finally receive his response.

"You're pretty damn scrawny, y'know that?" She stated bluntly.

Ok, maybe not the response he was asking for, but at least she wasn't very hostile.

"Why..."

"You're here because you have a friend. I intend to lure him in just so he ends up in the same state as you are in right now. Then, I'll send both of you humans to where you belong; the slave trade. That way, I can make enough money to last me for months. It's nothing personal, really." She finished.

"Really?" Kento mumbled out.

"Yes, really." She responded, "And that's all you need to know. So you're gonna sit tight for a while, and I'm going to be gone for a little while."

The girl, whom appeared to no older than eighteen, began examining the additional capsules she had found in Kento's shirt pocket. After reading each one, she picked up the last one, causing her to respond with a look of confusion.

"A coffee maker? What the hell is that?" She mused, setting it back down on the table before gathering her belongings in a bag and headed for the door.

"Wait." Kento called out, trying to keep the conversation from halting. He knew he didn't like this girl much at all, but the least he could do is grab out more valuable information before he is left with more questions to ask himself.

The girl halted at the doorway, "What?"

He asked for it. Now it's time he makes his question, and hopefully gain valuable information. Time to _not_ screw this up. This is it. What could he ask that has some sort of relevance to the piece of knowledge he was given? Surely, there are lots, but what is the most crucial and important question for this particular moment in time?

Kento gulped, rummaging through his empty mind and cycling through random thoughts, though only to find himself stumped at such a dire situation.

Then it came out.

"Err… Uh… What's, your name?" He stumbled out, feeling a bit of awkwardness fill the room. Even worse, she didn't respond immediately, as usual.

The girl stood there with her head slightly turned, one eye glaring at the man from her position. Her monkey-like tail wagged around in a manner that would describe her fiddling around as she made her decision.

"Sheryl." She said, before taking off without a word. Kento's mind stood more blank than ever. Subsequently, he would spend the next while questioning himself.

 **. . .**

Ryal spent hour after hour running down the seemingly endless trail of footprints. Consequently, the young lad could feel his belly cave in, and his limbs beginning to fatigue. The weight in his breathing became heavier and heavier. All Ryal could focus on was the footprints he ran across. His eyes didn't leave the ground, and thus his neck felt a bit sore from hanging all this time. But gradually, throughout the miles and miles he must have covered, the footprints were more distinct and noticeable. Ryal took a satisfying smirk at this, letting out another short-lived breath long worn down by the constant endurance of running on a frail, empty stomach.

The blond lad rose his head up almost lazily, scanning the landscape for any walking pedestrians in the distance. With a deep sigh, Ryal shook his head in defeat at the sight of nothing but more sand. If it wasn't enough that he kept on running with no food or water, it was a pain to realize that he'll eventually need to go back and find Kento off in who knows where, and _then_ potentially fight someone of his caliber: all because of a little sand kicked up from the dunes. And this all depended on when he'll finally catch up to the refugees that somehow managed to cover this massive distance.

Suddenly a thought triggered. If these refugees managed to cover this massive distance, how long were they traveling for? And how fast? Conveniently enough, Ryal found his answer in the footprints below. He forgot about determining a person's speed based on the spacing of the footprints and how it was indented. His hunger was most likely responsible for that unfortunately.

Looking down, the set of footprints seemed to be somewhat well spaced out. It's very possible that the refugees would have been running at this point, though that would also mean that the refugees would need a ton of stamina to be running at this point, which rules out the possibility of any normal human beings escaping at this point. He was likely tracking people with beyond normal capabilities. Maybe the weak ones couldn't escape the Arcosians? Who knows?

Ryal kept on running. He'll eventually catch up sooner or later hopefully. He wasn't planning on stopping or taking a break, unless it was for food or water. Throughout this long period of time, he could feel the sweat beating on his back and neck, almost like being drenched from a salty lake dumped on his head. Curiously, Ryal slapped his dirty hand on his neck to get a feel for the moisture of his skin before pulling it back and looking at it. Surely enough, his hand appeared to be a combination of sand and water. He was sweating alright. There was no question about that considering he could feel drops of it going down his body and the clothing on his back feeling drenched and heated by the sunlight. A lot of sand managed to get all over his pants too, and in his toenails after the long period of running.

The young man spotted a nearby hill in the distance, where a large ridge of sand ended up by the prolonged gusts of wind piling it up there. He strayed from the path of footprints just so he could get a good bearing of where he was exactly. Anything at this point would be acceptable, be it a village belonging to barbaric people or a lone settlement looted down to its core. If he could find a single valuable resource, he'd be all over it.

Ryal practically crawled up the steep hill of sand until he reached the top, laying down on his belly out of sheer exhaustion and dire need for a meal in this vacant landscape. Looking about the land all the way out to the horizon, he saw nothing at first. All he could tell was the sun already reaching past the early afternoon and into the evening. Just how long was he running for? Did he seriously lose track of time over some footprints in the middle of nowhere?

Squinting his eyes more, Ryal suddenly managed to track the footprints making a tight turn around a hill, which extended off to a different direction in the landscape. This was certainly odd, considering that for the most part, the footprints lead a straight line. If the travelers would make such a tight turn, there may be something to consider or explore here, which is by all means is considered good news.

The blond lad trudged his way down the hill and made his way on the path of footprints once again, shortly arriving at the tight turn, and seeing several other trails of footprints coming from all sorts of different directions, all leading up to a single ancient looking well in the middle of nowhere. Instinctively, Ryal rushed over, leaping into the well himself just to satisfy his need for water. Despite being soaking wet and falling down a deep, dark hole, Ryal felt a breeze of relaxation echo through his body as he simply sat in there. Surprisingly, the water was pretty clean, at least by his standards assuming he had any. Boy, could he sit in there for hours. Never did it make him so happy just to be in the presence of a water source.

By this time, however, it was time to recollect his thoughts. Sitting in there all day wasn't going to get him proper shelter or food. He still needed to find Kento, and find some refugees with a map or some sort of settlement where he could get food. A well is nice and all, but it's not going to cut it.

Ryal decided to climb out, only to come into eye contact with a group of settlers that must've travelled here to gather water. Here he was, with his head peaking out of the well, coming into contact with a bunch of people looking like they came straight out of a poverty struck ghetto. They didn't say anything either, being either women or children by the looks of things.

After pausing for what felt like an hour long staring contest, the young man climbed out of the well and rested his drenched self up against the side of the brick foundation. He gestured his hand to the well that he leaned up against, taking a breath and staring away from the others as he did so.

"Sorry about hogging your water. Go ahead. It's yours." He said in between breaths before gently closing his eyes, letting his thoughts flood into his mind more while paying minimal mind to the others. At last, he found some nearby settlers luckily. All he needed to do was grab a stash of food to carry in his sack and head off for his friend. Ryal opened up an eye to see if the others moved on to getting their water, but they all sat and stared at the blond-haired lad, like he was an alien or something.

"Come on, it's yours. I don't bite." Ryal tried to reassure the minor crowd, only to continuously be stared at for whatever reason that was beyond him.

"You have yellow hair." One of the younger boys spoke, before quickly being silenced by the mother of the child by swiftly, though gently placing her hand upon the young one's lips.

Ryal lazily shifted his gaze towards the child, quickly realizing their differences in appearance that seemed common among these people. All of them had black, messy hair. Compared to normal people, they were considerably more muscular, despite living off whatever scraps of food that could gather from the desert. All of their eyes were black too, but their skin tone was considerably light, tan to be specific. Maybe it's not wrong to assume that these people have never seen a blond person in their lives?

"Yeah." He simply responded with a nod, speaking in a lighter tone than usual to the child. There wasn't much to really respond to that. A little bit of a wakeup call to the world happens to everyone, maybe.

Mothers began to whisper things to their children, presumably to stay back as they would slowly approach the well and bring up water, meanwhile keeping their distance from Ryal. The blond lad grumbled a bit under his breath, knowing this task may appear a bit more difficult than he originally anticipated. Being tired of sitting there in his drenched clothes, Ryal threw off his belt and gi top off to the side, leaving him shirtless. For once, the sun's heat actually felt nice, though a bit cooler than previously considering the time of day. Now it's about time to speak up, instead of this whispering nonsense with these people.

"Alright, look. I'm not going to hurt anyone. I've been stranded out in this desert for awhile now and it would be nice if somebody could at least talk a little." Ryal spoke up, standing as he did so.

After those words left Ryal's mouth, an older, though firm and healthy looking woman took a few steps towards the blond-haired individual. She leaned up against the well with her hand and stared at Ryal straight in the eye. Promptly, Ryal returned the look, expecting a response to come out of her.

"Boy, it would be wise for you to go back to where you came from." She stated, sounding much like a warning of some kind.

"What?" Was all that came out of his mouth. He ran a whole bloody day just to be told to go back. This woman is _crazy_ if she thinks that'll happen _ever._

"I don't know if you're aware, but you are not of our kind." She added, intensifying the glare she was giving him at this point. Ryal felt confused about the whole thing, reaching up to scratch his head over what she meant.

Then, the woman revealed a brown, furry looking thing dropping from below her rags. Ryal leaned over slightly, seeing that she was showing her tail. Following this, the others around him also revealed their tails, each and every one. Ryal couldn't seem to put his finger on it, but the sight seemed familiar. He could hear the voices of his old man speak to him well within his mind. The young man knew from the depth's of his mind, just not momentarily.

"And we're not very fond of stranded humans out here. We tend to dislike your type strongly in these parts. Now leave already, before you regret it." She finished. The children still stared at Ryal like a complete and utter stranger. Even the women, who were gathering water, stopped to look back at Ryal. He was certainly confused, and irritated too. He had a much bigger concern for getting food and water, and not dealing with this random crap.

The blond-haired man narrowed his eyes a bit, almost glaring back at the woman, "Really? 'human'? Of all things to be worried about, even though you look almost identical to one, because of your… tail, thing, you really have a problem?" Ryal spat back, spitting out a small bit of frustration in his tone. He wasn't going to deal with whatever this is. He needs food. He will get food. Nobody in their right mind will take that away, even if it means going out in some damned place to hunt it himself!

"Don't be so sure of that, human. Just because we look identical to your kind, doesn't mean we're similar. We Saiyans live differently than the way you live, like your indoor privies and grocery stores. We hunt, gather and build our homes from the ground up unlike your easy way of living in the city. Now then, human, we'd hate for our children to see your guts spilled everywhere. Afterall, our husbands show little mercy to your type." She taunted, forming a sly grin at the seemingly confused newcomer.

The thoughts came rushing in from memory. His father spoke of the Saiyans from time to time. He talked about their massive power and pride, and he was to always be careful around them. Ryal suddenly felt stupid about engaging a conversation with these settlers, unknowing about the fact that they look only slightly different to the normal man. But that doesn't cut it. He had his own pride, and he wasn't about to get talked down by an old lady with the attitude of a condescending whore. At this moment, for all he cared, Saiyans can hop off with their 'superior power and dignity or whatever'.

"Nice attitude lady, but I don't give a damn about your crap about me and any other stupid grudge you have. I'm starving. I could eat a horse and still feel like I'm going to die of hunger. So what if I don't have a tail? Are you going to call your man over to get his sorry ass beat because you thought it would be cunning to mouth off at me?" He ranted, nearly closing the distance between himself and the older woman, who stood perfectly still and managed to maintain that increasingly aggravating smirk on her face.

"Just who the hell do you think you are, kid? You think you're special? You believe you're at the top of this world?" She sneered back at Ryal, causing a few giggles from the other women standing nearby. Somehow they thought Ryal as a complete and utter clown, full of ignorance and pride that'll soon be crushed horribly by the Saiyans that possessed superior strength.

Ryal narrowed his eyes at the older woman, fully engaged in this argument, "Just who the hell am I?" He spoke back in a much lower tone, voicing off his profound lack of care in the world for the big attempt at having this woman spoon-feed Ryal's frustration to new limits. The young man simply turned around and took a deep breath, sitting down on the brick foundation of the ancient well and opened his mouth once again, this time in a much calmer tone.

"Have it your way. You won't have to ever see me again. I will leave and never come back. You may go back to your ways of living, and I will surely go back to mine. _However_ , I insist you have the courtesy to lend me one day's worth of food and water, and in return I will bring you ten times the amount of resources you give me." Ryal proposed.

"How do you expect us to trust you? Don't you understand? Your kind doesn't belong here!" She went off.

Ryal sighed and pulled down his sack. Slowly, he reached his hand in and began rummaging through some of his belongings, all of them being completely soaked from being dumped inside the well just minutes earlier. He then pulled out a shiny mineral that was emerald green in color. It was one of the rare things he found back at his house, particularly in the vastly deep caves of the mountains north of his home. He tossed it up and down, examining its structure up and down, recalling the things his mother talked about way back when he was child about all of the rare things he could find. If he was right, the mineral he was holding costed a fortune.

"I heard you could sell this thing for a lot in some of the bigger cities. I'm sure you'll get months worth of food and water from this thing alone. But I'll give you an offer. You give me one day's worth of food and water, and you can have this." Ryal explained, holding the golf ball sized mineral at the palm of his hand.

To his surprise, many of the women and children around him actually believed what he said. For once, he came through to these people! Now he can worry about some more important issues at hand if the old lady could accept the deal!

The old woman took a minute to think, while the other Saiyans discussed among themselves about whether or not they should take Ryal's word for it. After all, to a person living in such conditions that anything with a decent worth could get you by for a while, is highly convincing.

"You stay here for the night. Tomorrow morning, we'll bring you the food you require. The water you gather is your choice. It's all in that well. If you don't fork over that thing you're holdin' when the time comes, don't be surprised when you get your face beat into the ground and everything you have gets taken away from you, got it?" She said, keeping a stern tone, hesitant to allow this deal come through. Ryal nodded silently, and soon enough, all the women and children took off with their supply of water, and nighttime soon followed.

The stars shined brightly that night, along with the ever growing crescent moon, soon to turn full in the matter of a few nights. Ryal gazed at them, letting his thoughts take over as the sight never left his eyes, until his drowsiness finally took over and his eyelids closed gently. The young lad dreamt of his father, and where he could've possibly went off to. He never forgot that confident attitude his father had. One day he hoped to find him. One day.

 **. . .**

The southern parts of the notoriously dry and thuggish region showed little difference from the north. It's all sandy, or rocky, along with the clearest skies in the world. Indeed there are some differences that lie in the south versus the north, and that is temperature. As Seadra is a landmass in the northern hemisphere, the south lies closer towards the equator, annually receiving more sun. The difference though, wasn't so much due to the fact that it was southern, but rather it being a larger distance from the northern coastline with the Northern Ocean. Without the sea, temperatures were less consistent, and therefore the desert became more of a hazard. That didn't stop people from creating settlements however. That only made way for the various frowned upon things to occur, which would otherwise be considered illegal anywhere else.

Sheryl flew great distances from her home, approaching a small settlement comprising of a few homes and private businesses, all of which were inhabited and run by Saiyans. The area was hidden between two large sandy hills, forming a small valley-like low ground where the settlement was decently hidden enough from the outsiders that drew near. Sheryl promptly landed herself just on the outskirts before walking her way towards her destination. Upon passing by other civilians she gave them a greeting, where they would kindly greet back. Saiyans were courteous towards each other, though not to say they wouldn't cause trouble every now and then. Afterall, it's only natural that their lust for fighting would strongly overcome their suppressive outer shell at some point.

The young woman approached a larger building at the corner of a street, heading through the backdoor. Immediately she had entered a dimly lit room filled with luxurious accessories, clean carpet, dusted surfaces and furniture. She took off her sandals right at the doorstep, and made her way straight to the shower mainly to perfect her appearance. She needed to have every spec of dirt washed off, scrub down her hair until it was silky and smooth, and bring about a somewhat pungent beauty of a scent. Off in the corner, her manager walked into the room and greeted Sheryl with a smile.

"Welcome back! Ready to put on a good show?" He asked straight away with a bright smile, showing off the gold tooth located on one of his front teeth. He was a fairly large man with a robust build, though his older age was apparent even in the darkness. He must have been approaching one hundred years of age at this point, which was considered middle aged for a person of Saiyan blood.

Sheryl nodded with a smile, "I am, once I get cleaned."

"I've prepared you a new and stunning outfit for the crowd. I promise you this time they're gonna love it! And this time, you'll get a much more profitable deal here." He added, going back to one of the backroom closets and digging up a few articles of clothing, primarily consisting of lingerie and other sexually arousing materials. He pulled up a skimpy, lacy outfit and returned to where Sheryl was, holding it up with a finger. Sheryl returned a look of approval, grabbing it without thought.

"Thanks." She responded, before the man nodded.

"The crowd's waitin' on ya. All the other girls are almost done their show so be quick about it." He said, before turning around and heading back to his office. As the room went silent, she could hear the loud masculine cheers going on in the show, along with the occasional whistles and clapping that came now and then. After a moment of thought, she took off for the change room, determined to earn that higher pay she was offered.

 **. . .**

With the constant sun beating down on his skin, Ryal awoke with the flash of sun in his eyes, where it rose barely above the horizon. Sand creeped down underneath his clothes as he steadily lifted himself from the dry sand. Around him there was nothing but the well he arrived at just a day before. His body felt dirty from being in the desert for such a long period of time. He swore his hair felt like a ragged fishnet from all the sand that must have been caught by the gusts of wind and the prolonged resting on the ground where it would collect particles hours upon end. It was one thing to lack hygiene when living alone in the middle of a forest, but another to be the embodiment of sand and dust clinging together on top of that. Not even the highest quality suite off in a grand city of fortune and their showers of not only top notch cleanliness but gold could risk its well being had it encountered him at this state. He'd ironically _dirty_ that shower.

Ryal shook his head, feeling minuscule particles fall from his mop head of hair, while he rose his hands from being partially embedded into the ground to wipe his eyes. Before he attempted this, he quickly discovered how black his fingers were from the dirt he collected overnight. He decided not to rub his eyes instead, and simply take a drink from the well to get his day started. It was important to receive the supplies he needed to survive healthily another day, before hunger would plague him again and prevent him from being at the peak of his ability once he would encounter that kidnapper.

The young man made his way down the well and dunked his head in the water, gulping it down profusely. Eventually, whatever light that traveled down the well dimmed, signalling Ryal to stop whatever he was doing and look up. He noticed the expressions on the Saiyan's faces, probably weirded out by his presence by the looks of it. Having thought about it for a moment, he crawled back up the well, feeling like an uncivilized lunatic for having expressed himself like that before getting off on a trade deal. It's not like he was civilized either, but it still bothered him enough as it is.

"So this is the human you met with last night?" One of the men said, looking down at the blond individual appearing to be soaked completely from the shoulder up. The Saiyan man appeared to be rather bulky and large. Despite Ryal's naturally tall complex, this man must have had an entire foot on him in height. He looked pretty intimidating too, even though Ryal had received a vibe that this man seemed a lot more pleasant to talk to than some of the people he encountered in the past.

"That's the one." One of the older women added.

Ryal sat on the edge of the well after climbing out of it, sluggishly reaching for his sack and pulling out the same mineral he held yesterday. "Here it is." He sighed, holding it up loosely from his hand while he propped himself up from his elbows on his knees.

The Saiyan man observed the object from where he was standing, seeing the green clear shine with small twinkles that emitted from the object. A smile appeared on the man's face as he waved over one of his subjects carrying the supplies in a bag. He dropped it next to Ryal, as the scent of fresh bread trailed in smoothly through his nostrils. He had no idea how they got bread out in this barren landscape, but they had it fresh nonetheless. In response, Ryal looked over to the Saiyan man with his arms crossed.

"A deal is a deal. Give me that thing you got right there." He demanded.

Ryal tossed it over to the large man without a second thought, "It's yours." He said, before dipping his nose into the bag, letting in more of the scent to envelop his desire for a good appetizer. The villagers gathered their water from the well and left him there to feast on some of the food he was given, which was apparently massive. This food will last him for almost a week, actually, given that the food doesn't spoil by then. With this many loafs of bread, slices of meat and the huge jug of water, he could probably go on for long enough to find Kento, which is all he really needed.

 **. . .**

Hours later, in the midst of the morning, a door swung open at the front of the small house. Kento rose the lid of one of his eyes tiredly. He'd been hanging for at least a full day now without any food or water. It wouldn't be long until he'd finally give out. Luckily, his hope had arrived in the neck of time. The young female came strolling through the living room carrying bags of groceries and water as if she'd been living in some kind of stone age. Apparently, capsule technology was not very familiar out here in the far out stretches of the great desert.

Kento couldn't help but adore the sweet smell seeping through his nostrils. His stomach immediately followed with a growl as his lust for food grew even more, loud enough to alert the Saiyan girl whom had just entered. She shot a look at the imprisoned man, who returned the look with a simple stare, lost of any emotion he could possibly care to muster out at this moment. He simply didn't have the energy for it, and rightly so.

The girl simply went back to whatever she was doing. Kento, half asleep and in dire need for the ingestion of something to make his belly content, he had opened his mouth having been provoked by the blissfully uncaring teenaged girl.

"Hey, uh. You wouldn't mind sharing some of that, would you?" Kento sputtered, nearly coughing through his dried throat as he spoke through his sentence. Sheryl turned around and looked back at Kento.

"Why should I do that?" She asked, which Kento found to be an odd thing to say.

"You're selling me away to slavery aren't you? Wouldn't it be wise to have well fed slaves so they are more eligible to do laborious tasks?" He explained right away, thanking himself on the inside for coming up with brilliant loopholes.

"Sure." The girl answered, shrugging nonchalantly before marching over to the grocery bag and picking out a few potatoes and a drink. She set them down on a table, before grabbing a key. She released the constraints on Kento, and as a result, the young man fell down, feeling a rush of blood beginning to circulate his body again. A deep sigh left his lungs just as he felt the surface of the floor once again after a whole day of being held on by chains. He felt severely weak, almost like he was incapable of moving or feeling much of anything. His whole body ached more than he had experienced anything in his entire life, and yet it may only be the beginning. It's only a matter of time he'd be sold off to slavery just months into his travels around the supersized planet.

"Well? Aren't you gonna eat?" Sheryl asked with a slight tone of anger. It was clear that she wasn't a patient one, and Kento needed food badly more than anything.

"Look, give me a couple of minutes. I can't even feel my arms." Kento complained, slowly trying to regain feeling in his arm and move it around. The girl responded by rolling her eyes, strolling off to another room within the cramped hut.

Kento sighed quietly, attempting to regain his composure and feeling in his body. It slowly came back to him, feeling awkward and fuzzy. However desperate for food, he forced himself to grab the fresh potatoes and gobble them down. Finding it hard to digest, he went back and took a sip of water before grabbing more potatoes. The feeling of food going down his esophagus felt very strange, like he could distinctly feel the chunks of food going into his stomach clearly, almost frighteningly. His belly emanated growls and burps, sinking and turning as he gobbled down so much potatoes that it made him feel ill. Kento didn't want to puke it all out, but he didn't have much time to eat it before he'd be hung up again, judging by the girl's temper.

Sheryl walked back into the room yawning, grabbing an apple from her groceries before sitting down on a chair across the room. She took a large bite out of the apple, munching it down casually and letting out a lot of noise.

"So," She began, continuing her obnoxiously loud eating. Kento's ears perked up, looking up at the female Saiyan with a frozen jaw.

"You must be some kind of rich kid from the west, yes?" She asked, sort of like she's interrogating Kento.

The young man responded with a slow nod, paying close attention to her words, for they present a very high degree of relevance to his current well being.

"I see. What the hell were you doing out in the middle of nowhere then?" She questioned him, taking another bite out of her apple as she struck up this casual conversation.

"Well, we were sorta kicked out of the city of Fleon by this invasion of lizard people from the north. I, along with a friend of mine were forced to trek through the deserts around here. Not very pleasant I oughta say." He explained genuinely. This conversation wasn't as pivotal to his well being as he thought it be, but rather just a friendly exchange of words. It's a rare sight to see where he was going.

"How unfortunate." She commented, taking another bite out of her apple and gazing at the small window where sunlight shined through. "I assume this means lots of people must have escaped, right?"

Kento nodded again, slowly.

"So there's lots of free game, huh?" She mused, finishing her apple and tossing it into the trash can across the room. She licked her fingers clean as Kento watched her. After a moment, she met her gaze with Kento all of the sudden, as if something had popped into her mind.

"Do you remember my name?" She asked.

"Sheryl, right?" Kento answered tiredly. He was soon losing his ability to stay awake. After all, hanging on chains for dozens of hours straight isn't a very comfortable thing to do.

Sheryl responded with a nod, grinning a little. "Good, you knew."

"Why'd you ask that?" Kento pondered.

"Oh, nothing." She replied, resting herself on the couch at ease. Within a silent moment or so, she decided the conversation, or lack thereof wasn't really worth it. She got right up and stretched her arms, before walking towards her bedroom.

"I'll be taking a nap. Don't you leave now, or there'll be severe consequences." The young woman insisted, before closing her bedroom door. Kento felt weary himself, and thus his head fell flat on the small table in the middle of the room, passing out completely.

In the upcoming hours, the sun set and soon followed the dark night. The silence never left the house nor the light winded desert outside, calm and serene. Not a single peep interrupted the noiseless time, due to the lack of any life outside the fairly little isolated hut sitting humbly in the sands. Hours and hours gone by, where in the meantime the Saiyan girl slept soundly in her bed while Kento's consciousness left him far behind, with a small pile of drool building up on the table he slept on and the profoundly uncomfortable position he sat in. He slept nonetheless, not bothering to him or anyone else. However, in the glimpse of midnight the door creaked open, and footsteps sounded its way through the living room.

A stern finger poked at Kento's back, and after a few tries the traveler woke up with many blinks. He looked around the darkened room and saw a large silhouette looming over him. Before he spoke a word, Kento was grabbed in the most silent manner and dragged out of the house before being carried away at least an entire mile away from the house. Afterwards, he was let down, and with a small bit of moonlight touching his face, Kento could recognise his companion, Ryal.

"My god dude, that was risky as hell." Kento whispered, stretching his arms around and walking along the desert sands with his friend.

"Forgive me for taking so long. I had to grab food along the way." He admitted, holding up the bag he carried along the way.

"Nice! We can probably make it to Cevine in time then. I'm just glad you were able to find me out in this barren wasteland." Kento noted, expressing his content for Ryal. Afterall, the guy was able to explore an area that is miles and miles far and wide for a tiny hut out in the middle of nowhere.

"Yeah, well, I sorta spent a whole day looking for ya pal." The tall man responded, yawning afterwards.

"You must be tired then."

"I kinda am, and sore too. It's not fun running all day really."

"We'll have to find an inn then, and fast. There's nowhere to rest for you is there?" Kento inquired, looking up to see the taller man respond with a shake of the head.

"How about you two rest up at my place then? It's only a couple miles away from here."

Upon hearing this feminine voice, the two jolted their heads to their back, seeing Sheryl stalk behind them only a few yards away, possibly eavesdropping on most of the conversation. Ryal, who was practically stunned at the girl's senses, felt his jaw figuratively reach the planet's crust. Never had he encountered someone who was able to pick up on his sneaking abilities. And here he was, completely outplayed by this desert dweller once again. Kento on the other hand, trembled at the sudden surprise of her appearance. She was indeed, incredibly dangerous.

"Goodness, you scared the hell oughta me." Kento commented, attempting to make light of the situation, knowing that it wouldn't do much good anyway.

"That was the intention." She replied with a smirk. "I told you I could hear everything going on in that house."

"Whatever." Ryal intervened. "I'll be bringing my friend along, thank you. We've had enough trouble to deal with."

With this, Ryal turned around and wrapped his arm around his friend's shoulder, attempting to stroll away as if nothing had happened. In a second or so, the young woman suddenly appeared directly in front of the two, moving so fast that Kento couldn't track a single one of her movements. Instead, it was like she teleported directly in front of them, still showing off that condescending smirk riddled with pride. Ryal narrowed his eyes, whereas Kento could only feel his heart skip a beat. This wasn't going to end well.

"You're not going anywhere, human. I own you, and I don't treat my disloyal property well." She snapped, letting any positive emotion fade away along with her smirk.

Ryal sighed, pressing the bag he was carrying up against Kento.

"Take." He said, and without protest the shorter man took it and backed off a few steps. He could feel an arise of conflict beginning between the two. He feared it wasn't going to go well for Ryal considering his condition and everything, _especially_ since he was going up against a Saiyan of all people.

"I'd hate to seriously injure you. Give it up." The young female insisted, wrapping her tail around her waist.

"Remember this?" Ryal spoke up, pointing his finger at his ocular bone, appearing to have a red mark on it.

"What about it?" Sheryl asked, raising a brow at such a random question.

"You did that." He stated flatly, in a fairly angered tone. "And you didn't even stick around. You just hit me and left, without even revealing yourself. What kind of coward are you to go around doing that?"

Sheryl gritted her teeth, "What? You want a fair match? Is that it? Come on! Lets fight then, you and me!"

Ryal immediately widened his stance. There was no negotiating out of this one. Out of concern, the young man turned to Kento.

"Kento! Run!"

The Saiyan girl immediately pounced on Ryal as he said this without warning. And in a brief fraction of a second Ryal felt a fist connect with his cheek, sending him tumbling down the desert sands. To the right, Kento watched as he trembled in fear, unwilling to run away from this person that could casually break the sound barrier.

"Aren't you gonna run?" Sheryl questioned the fragile man, causing him to immediately turn and sprint away without further question. She shook her head and returned her attention the man she was fighting against, or so she presumed it would be a massacre at this point.

Ryal slowly got to his feet, raising his hands and shaking his head at himself for letting his guard open so easily. It wasn't long before Sheryl charged at him again, only this time the blond man was prepared. He parried the initial punch, and ducked under the following roundhouse kick that came after. The man side stepped the next front kick and went for a front jab towards her right jaw, which she dodged at the last second with a jolt of the head. She pressed in with more straight punches, ending up in a flurry which Ryal tried repelling with simple blocks. He retracted an arm just as she switched back to kicks, and as she came up for a sidekick to the ribs, Ryal quickly fired a low punch to her gut, sending her far back and double over while skidding on the sand. With this short felt victory in the brief encounter, the blond lad unexpected an immediate energy blast coming in shortly after, which connected perfectly. The explosion was point blank, and Ryal let out a groan as he stumbled backwards just long enough for the Saiyan girl to close the distance and uppercut his chin. Ryal fell flat on his back, knowing instantly that letting his guard down when the distance increased was a very poor idea.

Sheryl attempted to smash her foot down on his ribs while he lay on his back, only to meet with a foot connecting with her planted ankle, tripping her over and preventing any vital attack that could proclaim her victory. Ryal immediately flipped up and increased the distance with a large and quick leap back, following up with a barrage of ki blasts as he did so. Several explosions took place where she tripped and stumbled, giving the young man the impression that he must've did some damage with those repeated blasts. To his dismay, however, she came back charging in just like she did last time, with little to no damage. Ryal rose his guard, and Sheryl connected her forearm with his, enacting a match of sheer strength and power struggle, connecting their hands together and pushing against each other. While Ryal felt the weight of the day on his back, with each breath signalling his exhaustion, he could only feel his heart flutter at the sight of this woman's smirk; she was enjoying this. Ryal couldn't help but share this feeling, allowing his adrenaline to surface and enjoy the heat of the battle. No matter how much though, there was no mistaking the great lust for battle this Saiyan had far outweighed his. In fact, this fight felt more enjoyable than pivotal and worrisome.

"Wow, you're certainly strong for a human. How much are you holding back?" She conversed, almost casually too. Ryal sank at this statement, because he was practically giving it his all.

"Don't tell me _you're_ holding back are you?" Ryal uttered under the sound of his tensity, clearly indicating that he was putting a good deal of effort in. Sheryl giggled a bit.

"Maybe." She teased. Ryal could already sense the amount of joy she had in this, and it wasn't going to end well for him. Slowly, her strength overcame his, and Ryal was forced to back up a few steps.

Knowing this wasn't going to end well in a strength match up, Ryal quickly snapped out of the struggle and fired a reverse hooking kick, landing right on her cheek. She stumbled back a bit before regaining her composure, quickly getting into the defensive end of a swift assault. Ryal closed the gap by swinging several fast palm strikes and knife hands, combined with closed fists and a snappy swinging kick on the occasion which would generally allow for the opponent to duck under, giving Ryal a predictive opportunity to follow up with another strike. Sheryl took many hits, but soon caught on to this strategy and repulsed with a firmly planted foot in Ryal's ribs. The young man gasped and soon was sent flying by another successful strike to the kidneys. He hit the side of a desert hill, and quickly he felt heat slowly close in at his feet. Immediately the tall man wedged himself upon his right arm and bent his knees a bit, planting his feet on the ground and launched himself far into the air before the energy wave connected. A large explosion took place where Ryal once stood, and he saw from above how high in the air it went. However, his attention focused on his opponent, who took action after committing the blast.

Sheryl leaped high into the air, closing the gap between herself and Ryal. The young man anticipated this and rose his guard, ready to get into a physical struggle up in the air. As they connected, Sheryl quickly gained the upper hand, showing superiority in both speed and strength. It was evident that Ryal wasn't very maneuverable when high up in the air, resulting in several blows taken to the body. Sheryl pressed on a barrage of strikes towards Ryal, who was on the defensive, taking a large chunk of hits. In retaliation, Ryal aimed a large haymaker towards the girl's cheek when he saw the chance, only to miss completely. The Saiyan dodged successfully, and combined both her hands to land a hammer strike blow down upon Ryal's open back. His body crashed down into the sand, erupting the ground enough to kick debris several feet into the air. The blond man could feel the particles of sand getting caught in his throat as his body lay flat on his belly. His lungs felt the shock of the blow, and he struggled to take in a single breath and recovered. Pain enveloped his body and his chest experienced a great crushing weight, much like an elephant sitting on him. The combatant tried to regain his senses, adjusting his knees and prompting himself up on his elbows. His mind and body was trained for this, and to continue fighting. He wasn't going to give up. Not yet. Not ever.

Just then, Sheryl sky dived down onto Ryal with a knee planting dead centre onto his back. Ryal let out a loud groan of pain. His nerves jolted at the instant it landed, and an incredible pain swept up his wounded spine. Not only was he denied the ability to get back up on his feet, he was reluctant in keeping his consciousness. His eyes zoned in and out, and fatigue slowly took over.

"That's unfortunate. You didn't last as long as I thought. Oh well." She pouted, grabbing the unconscious body and dragging it across the sand. She had a new idea in mind for the two, and it wasn't going to be pleasant for them.

 **. . .**

Ryal's eyes opened sluggishly, finding himself tied to a large stone pillar by rope. The sun was up and flaring its heat down, enough to cause him to bathe in his own sweat. He squinted his eyes over and over, and he looked over to his companion Kento, who was tied up the same way on another stone pillar. He examined the way he was tied on, and figured that he could probably escape if he untied it correctly. Perhaps he could escape simply by breaking the rope just with strength alone even. Afterall, it seems to only be rope.

The blond man began to struggle his way free, only to feel the pillar immediately sink down into the sand just as he began to put the effort in. He stopped struggling as soon as possible, and the pillar halted. He sighed at this, knowing it wasn't a smart idea to break free at all, unless he could somehow pull it off before being dug into the frighteningly dangerous quicksand.

"Well, now I know how effective my trap is." A feminine voice spoke from nearby. Ryal kept himself frozen, paranoid to move a muscle knowing that it could result in his death.

"Let's talk for a bit." Sheryl continued, tossing a small pebble at Kento, landing straight at the sleeping man's head. He awoke with a groan, displeased to see himself hung up again, only worse to his dismay as he was trapped in the incredibly hot and dry outdoors. He kept squinting his eyes to adjust to the daylight much like Ryal was doing at this very moment, and found the girl standing just a few yards away from where they were hung. He could barely make out the face of the Saiyan due to the sheer intensity of the sunlight.

"I've decided that neither of you will be sold off to slavery. In fact, you both will become my slaves for now. Be glad you aren't seeing a ruthless owner from now on." She started explaining briefly, pacing back and forth as she said so.

"Wha'? Why?" Kento murmured, experiencing the sluggishness and drowsiness of literally just being awoken.

"I'm glad you asked. Remember the time you told me about all those refugees?"

Kento nodded in response.

"Well I'm sure you know where I'm going with this one. You can go back to track all those footprints for me wouldn't you? Afterall, the desert is notorious for leaving obvious traces around." She inquired, smirking at the end of her sentence.

"Wait a minute, what's with this whole 'selling off to slavery' crap?" Ryal intervened, suddenly engaged in this exchange of words with the female and Kento. He looked back and forth attempting to read the facial expressions of the two, expecting a cut and clear response.

Kento sighed, but didn't speak. He was still urging himself to wake up more so he could care more about the situation he was in and not be tempted to fall back asleep.

"Before I wanted to lure you in and capture you along with your friend here. Then I was going to sell both of you to slavery, that much he knew. Now I have a better idea, and especially with _you._ " She responded, eyeing Ryal at the exact moment she was referring to him. The blond man raised a brow, confused as to what she meant.

Without a moment passing, Sheryl then levitated into the air, untying the rope that kept Ryal glued to the pillar. Once loose enough, the young man broke free and landed far enough away from the quicksand, confused as to what this girl was getting at. Kento couldn't help but figure why she would ever free Ryal of all people from being in hostage.

"I need a good punching bag, and you seem well fit for that job." She stated bluntly, tossing Ryal an apple and a jug of water. "I also gotta thank you for giving me extra groceries by the way. It's a great pleasure for a Saiyan like me to have more access to food and water."

Ryal took the apple and gobbled it down like no tomorrow, determined to make this his big chance at victory. It's arguable that Ryal wasn't nearly at his best the other day due to being hungry and tired and all. This time he could potentially make a valuable difference if he can do this right this time.

"Why the hell would you do that? Y'know we have a good chance at escape now?" Kento questioned towards the Saiyan.

Sheryl shrugged, "So what? I need a training partner."

Kento simple shook his head at the thought of giving one's opponent an extra chance of escape. Looking past this, he looked over to Ryal, who was still snacking on the food he was giving to replenish his hunger.

"Kick her ass for me will ya?" The shorter man cheered on. Ryal responded by holding up a thumb, while using his other hand to finish off the apple and toss it off to the side. Afterwards, he began to stretch his arms around, as Sheryl did the same. The two prepared for their rematch, solely because the Saiyan felt like having a training partner.

"Ready?" Sheryl asked.

Ryal responded with a nod, before getting into his fighting stance. Granted, he didn't feel good having woken up to being strapped up to a stone pillar, but the most he could do was eat and stretch it out. His body felt more energetic, and less drowsy from being awake for an extended period of time. This is the best chance he has at getting out of this whole ordeal.

Seconds later, Sheryl was once again, the one to initiate the battle. Ryal kept his guard up, careful not to take a big hit early on. He figured that if he could win the first close encounter up close, he can establish a significant advantage as compared to the previous fight. With a starting edge and a replenished body, there's a very real chance he could successfully win this fight and escape with his friend.

The girl chose to immediately close the distance between the two, just as Ryal had predicted. She lead in with a left hook, followed up by a knee. Ryal countered the first hit with a parry, and then a sidestep to avoid the knee. Seeing his first opportunity, Ryal went for a short upset punch to her ribs, only to be parried away with a low block followed up with an outward crescent kick to the head. Ryal ducked under it, going in for another straight punch to the midsection. Sheryl instinctively bent over, catching the fist in her hands. Having grasped it, she spun around and successfully held a wrist lock on Ryal, having his elbow facing up on his shoulder and the forearm bent towards his back while she held his wrist. In reaction to this, Ryal's balance nearly faded by almost falling backwards, though Sheryl kept him place. The blond man knew how bad of a situation he was in, and Sheryl could practically do whatever she wanted at this point.

The girl reeled her fist back, ready to strike firmly in his kidneys before the taller man decided to go with the momentum and flip backwards completely, planting his foot right on her face and releasing her grip on his wrist. She stumbled backward and attempted to quickly regain her posture, only to double over at the next strike that landed in her gut. She let out a groan as this happened, losing the upper hand completely as she was pummeled several times before being knocked away. Ryal finished the combo with a strong energy wave directed right at her body, landing perfectly, erupting a sizeable explosion that hit dozens of feet into the sky. Ryal felt a smirk form on his face, feeling a sense of victory come his way. He knew this was his chance, and he wasn't going to screw this up.

As the smoke cleared, the female Saiyan had already gotten up to her feet, currently in a fighting stance. Though there were some rashes and marks on her skin and torn clothing, she was still in the fight for sure. Ryal just had a successful first encounter, like he originally wanted from this fight. Now it was a matter of consistency and stamina, both of which he could muster pretty well given his previous experiences with his father's training routines.

She once again continued the fight by firing several ki blasts at Ryal, suggesting a different strategic approach in mind. Though Ryal couldn't help but think of what his adversary was planning, he mainly focused on dodging the ki attacks, much like his fight with the Arcosian soldier. After dodging several of these attacks, Sheryl had ran a complete one hundred eighty degrees around Ryal, firing an energy beam that came from the exact opposite way. He narrowly dodged the attack, letting it graze his shoulder ever so slightly, tearing off the bit of clothing completely and leaving an awful looking rash. It was hard for him to track the girl due to all of the kicked up dust and sand from the constantly barrage of ki attacks. The young man thought it maybe a good idea to get a better view from high in the air, but it wouldn't do him any good. He sucked at fighting off the ground, where he was inexperienced at flight. He couldn't afford to take many hits either, due to his smaller power level in comparison to his opponent. Each blow he would take can drastically change the fate of this battle, and therefore his future. He needed to act quick.

In the last second, Ryal formulated a risky plan, but it was all he could think of. He decided to take for the sky, and avoid the blanketed, blinding dust below. Just as he had escaped the sand cloud, Sheryl spotted him heading upward. A smile creeped onto her face as she leapt off after the vulnerable target.

The young man brought both of his hands together and placed them firmly on his hip as he positioned his body sideways, getting a good view of the surface. He focused a large portion of his energy towards his hands. Seeing this, Sheryl halted, finding this to be a trap. She decided to lower herself back down to the ground where she could be appear vague and untraceable due to the smoke cover. Ryal scoffed at this, finding his plan to be far less effective than he hoped for it to be. Instead, he continued charging up his attack, finding the correct opportunity to use it properly. Sheryl stayed hidden, occasionally kicking up more sand and switching her position to remain untraceable, planning to react when he would release his attack. Soon the fight became a battle of patience. Ryal dared not let himself open foolishly whereas Sheryl relied on this very concept to gain the upper hand.

On the sidelines, Kento watched in awe as he personally witnessed all of this unfold, with both fighters moving so fast he couldn't even hope to track the two messing around. It was enough to make him wide awake, eyeing the scenery with all he could muster, but to no avail could he see exactly what was going on.

After dozens of seconds of procrastinating, Sheryl found her strategy to be pointless, because it relied on her opponent to willfully screw up. Instead, she quickly released an energy wave up at her opponent, in hopes of forcing him to commit his attack fully, in which she would have time to escape the blast and counterattack.

Ryal reacted quickly at the sudden ki wave heading up towards him. He decided to unleash his attack, though not in the way she'd expect it to. At first hand, Ryal had opened up a large red ball of ki, and out sideways came a very minor beam of energy shooting out from the ball. This however, wasn't to attack his opponent but rather propel him sideways to escape the path of the attack. The majority of the energy he built up was still active and readily available. Predictably, Sheryl shot up from the ground, attempting to close the distance between herself and Ryal having saw the beam of energy that shot sideways from the air. To her, it was enough to initiate a push. However, in reality, it was a big trap all along.

The blond man didn't waste a single second. He launched all of his energy into a single wave, storming downwards and hitting the propelled Saiyan square in the body, forcing her back down and pinned against the ground, before letting off a massive explosion several times larger than the last. Ryal exerted large levels of energy into this attack as a cost, but it was a cost well worth what it caused.

The human combatant slowly levitated downwards, planting his feet on the sandy dunes before approaching his opponent, to see if her status was enough to continue the fight. He hoped not to continue though, due to the amount of energy he drained into that attack. He wouldn't have enough strength to last another second against an opponent of that caliber. For all he knew, he was one hell of a lucky guy to land all of those attacks in, and if it wasn't enough, he wouldn't have stood a chance in the first place.

The dust dissipated into the air eventually, revealing a wounded body on the ground with little consciousness. For a second, Ryal was on guard. She could still very well be in the condition to fight, when he really wasn't. All he had left was the psychological advantage, really. He seemed like he could keep the fight going, when he was really just drained of practically everything. He could still walk, and showed little damage taken, and therefore it could be assumed that he was the clear victor. However, that notion was dead wrong. Ryal just appeared that way.

"Shit." The fallen Saiyan cursed, clenching her fists and leaning up. She suddenly felt a sore pain arise in her abdomen, in which she reacted by holding it with her hand while prompted up on another hand. More groans left her lips as she tried to get to her feet, but with no success. She couldn't even stand up let alone put up a fight in her condition.

"Well, guess I got you back. Don't mess with my friend again, you hear me?" Ryal told her, who responded with nothing. He then made his way over to his tied up friend, levitating up to the pillar and reaching for the rope.

"I owe you one pal. That was some pretty cool shit you did back there." Kento complimented.

"Save it for yourself dude. You're always there when I came back with bloody wounds so just consider this a respectful payback for saving me back at my house." The blond man replied, carrying Kento off of the pillar before it sunk into the quicksand completely. He really wasn't graceful at untying that rope afterall.

"Right." Kento said, deciding not to protest at that statement. "Now where the hell are we?"

Ryal shrugged, "I dunno. You figure it out."

"Well without any food it's not like we can get to Cevine in one piece. We're gonna have to make a stop and our best bet is to head north." Kento stated, sighing at the poor situation they were put in.

"That doesn't sound good." Said Ryal.

Kento laughed at the sheer obviousness of that statement, "Absolutely! And _if_ we find a stop we better hope it's not full of asshole Saiyans who want to rob and kill us! It's not like you can do jackshit because you nearly lost to a _teenaged girl_. What the hell do you think's gonna happen when a grown ass man confronts you and asks for your goddamn money and we got none? Well out here in these barren wastelands with no town development to speak of with all these primitive tribes, you can bet your ass you'll become one of their slaves! All you did was just delay the process even further! Doesn't that sound any good to you?" The smaller man snapped, burning off the stress he received from being kidnapped and held hostage.

"Nope." Ryal admitted bluntly. Kento simply sighed, scratching his head while trying to form a strategy to combat this dilemma. Ryal began to worry too, remembering his previous encounters with one of the Saiyan tribes. Only this time, he lost his bag and his weapons.

"It would be ideal for us to find Sheryl's house and retrieve all of our belongings, honestly. With her beaten down we could probably extract some information."

"Sheryl?" Ryal said afterwards with a questionable tone, tilting his head to the side.

"That's her name." Kento stated as a matter of fact.

Immediately, Ryal turned towards the girl, still struggling to get up. Even from afar he could notice signs of bleeding which he didn't notice before, meaning his attack was largely successful. Not only that, she was covered in wounds, presumably from charging directly into the deadly beam of energy. It was mainly her arms that had suffered the most damage, since it was all she could use to protect herself within the short neck of time she had to react.

The blond lad made his way over to the wounded Saiyan, halting just a step away from her. Looking down at her, Sheryl promptly looked up, as if she expected him to say anything.

"We're gonna be nice this time around." He began, placing his hands on his hips. It felt a bit rewarding to be enforcing demands this time around, considering the situation they were in just moments ago. "You're getting a free ride home, so as long as we get lots of food when we arrive at your house. All ya need to do is tell me where to go."

"I don't need your help." She resisted, gritting her teeth. She shied away her face as she grimaced in pain, intending to hide her current displeasure so her pride wouldn't further be stomped on.

"What? So you're gonna sit there and starve out here in the hot sun? Come on." Ryal complained, trying to get the better hand of the situation. He wasn't about to succumb to a pride painted in shattered dignity.

"I'm a Saiyan. I can go days without rest or food, and I won't go by your demands, filthy human." She muttered, still trying to hide her agony.

Ryal felt a spike of anger rise up. Particularly in his chest he could feel his heart racing as he visualized himself kicking this woman to a bloody pulp, but he decided against it. He didn't act on the spot, and instead responded with a glare. It may actually be right to force his foe into submission in order to get what he _needs_ quite frankly, but part of him detested the idea of striking down a defenseless individual. In fact, he couldn't help but think about what his father would do in this moment. He couldn't think of what to do, really. He could try threatening her, but it wasn't wise to put it to the test considering he wasn't in any physical condition to fight either. Ryal was hiding his weakness just as much as Sheryl was in this moment, so it would be a test of psychological strength when it came down to the idea of a threat. This of course, was completely stupid. Nobody in their right mind should question the power of a Saiyan's resolve. So that idea was going out the window.

"Alright you, enough is enough. If you don't show us where you live, we're gonna find it ourselves, and you're sure as hell aren't gonna like what's gonna be done to it. You know Ryal can find it eventually. He's done it before, he could do it again. So what's it gonna be huh? You lose a bit of groceries or struggle out here only to find an empty house a few days later, because of us?" Kento stepped in.

Sheryl let out a sigh, shutting her eyes as she questioned her pride for once this time, actually taking a second to think about the situation. Ryal raised a brow, surprised at the display of cleverness his friend demonstrated. He wasn't testing the Saiyan's mind, but rather presenting two what if scenarios with a clear better option. He's quite the negotiator for sure, undoubtedly.

"Fine." She gave in, feeling the sensation of defeat just as those words left her mouth. She hid her regret on making that decision, but it showed strongly in her tone. Ryal, though a slight bit angry, only ignored this out of pity. So far he hoped this type of encounter would never occur again, especially in the face of a stronger man more conditioned for this typical bandit life.

"Now point us in the direction we're supposed to go." Ryal insisted. Sheryl let out a deep sigh, before slowly raising a finger at the general direction of her house. Seeing this, Ryal picked up the girl and threw her over his shoulder before taking off. Kento, a bit startled at this sudden act, followed behind, though keeping a slightly distance away.

"What's the matter, Kento?" The blond man asked.

"Oh, just a bit concerned. You never know when she'll attack again, and I'm afraid my life would be very much at stake there." He replied, with a bit of worry in his voice. Sheryl rolled her eyes, trying to think amongst other things during this embarrassing moment. She wasn't about to eavesdrop on these two talking amongst themselves. She deserved no interest to them, and it'll all be over before she knew it.

Ryal let out a bit of a chuckle, "Oh, calm down. Things will be alright. I have this all under control." He assured him. This shocked Sheryl a bit, feeling a bit egotistical in this situation. _She_ had things under control, not this lousy refugee human from the lands of peace and ceasefire, or so it was. Ironically enough, they're out here because such a non-war zone was _in fact_ a non-war zone. It ended up being a war zone in the end, because it's easy to exploit such a weak and defenseless feature. And yet, despite the entirety of her experience in this desolate, non-caring place where she had to fend for herself, she pathetically lost to this man with no real experience in fighting. Unbelievable. How could she get over that? How does she redeem this atrocious fact that'll plague her very existence? If she could, she would _absolutely_ decimate this lost fool with his heart-stinging high-horse attitude. What a hateful feeling, one that she never experienced before and can't stress to express in this situation or else her home would be robbed of everything. She'll end up being a full time prostitute for years to come before she could fend for herself again, all due to this single accident she made in this fight.

In the lost hope of things, only in a dire attempt to express the hate and anger that arose from within, she could only close her eyes and look away, gritting her teeth and holding back a tear. Sheryl kept silent, attempting to shut out her ears and forget it all, a task too difficult to handle. The thoughts will keep holding on, however, to her dismay. It won't be forgotten.

"Right." Kento yawned, feeling the soreness more that his adrenaline ceased. Yes, he had been on his toes in concern for the outcome of that fight, very unsure of his future during those moments. Now that things seem to be going well again, his body had relaxed and soon the pain of being held off the ground by chains gave him an agonizing soreness in his shoulder. He knew well that this will last for days, and may even deserve medical attention considering his lack of physical prowess unlike his companion, who could probably walk it all off with a meal or two.

"I have a question, Ryal." Kento began. Ryal's ears perked up, turning his head around slightly to signal that he was tuning in.

"What methods did you go through to achieve the level of strength you're at?" He asked out of curiosity. Perhaps if he could learn how the young warrior became not only fit, but superhuman, he could reach it too; or at least he could somehow become decently fit enough to remove the disadvantages of being an unfit individual.

"I went through rigorous training at youth." Ryal began, beginning to reflect on his childhood where it mattered most to get to the level he was at. It was mainly his father who pushed him so far to begin with. All he did, throughout his days growing up, is heeding to his father's words and following his guidance, and with that advice his strength grew steadily. Distinctly he remembered those old days, where those training routines were introduced. Everyday, it was mandatory to practice these ones with a specific amount of repetitions, and soon it evolved as time came by. Each passing month, his father would approach him and introduce higher levels of training. Typically, it was always something simple, like an additional weight or an increase in the distance needed to be traveled or the increase of the intensity of the workout. It kept Ryal on his toes, and never could he rest off with the same level of exercise until his father disappeared. After that, he kept the same usual routine, and made sure to keep up with his schedule, but never himself did he increase the intensity _himself_. Perhaps that's what held him back so much, and why he wasn't a great match for even the average joe out in the wastelands of Seadra. The question made him think, what he could possibly do better. Maybe peering into the real world was the best idea for him. Afterall, it's necessary to find his father out in this big mess going on in the west.

"Go on." Kento urged, interrupting the moment of silence that preceded. Ryal snapped out of his train of thought, and began unravelling the childhood experienced he had with training.

"When I was young, when my father trained me to become stronger and faster, he forced me to do simple tasks at first. Stuff as simple as running, jumping or punching. Now it all starts easy, but my father had this habit of adding additional challenges to these workout routines. On the occasion, he was force me to carry a weight, like a little rock you could fit on a shelf just barely. He then extended how far I had to run, and instead of punches, I would instead throw as many stones as possible, urging me to always break my previous record or else I would suffer the consequences of running an extra mile. If I never improved, the punishment would be harsher, so the best way to avoid it was to simply get better. It was my only option at the time, and it sure as hell pushed my body to its very limits. Before I knew it, I was carrying around large boulders on my back while charging up mountains. Even during times of chores like my hunting, I was forced to train and perform insane stunts, like carrying a dead cow on my back while being forced to leap from tree branch to tree branch, while not disturbing the birds in their nests. That's really the key to getting better. You find a starting point that fits your level, and increase the intensity, sorta like planting the seeds and letting them grow."

"Huh." Kento murmured, stroking his chin. He could easily start a training schedule with something simple and work from there, but given the situation, it wasn't wise to start while he's hungry and incredibly sore. It'll have to wait.

"It's been years since I've been pushed like that though. I could've been so much better if I hadn't slacked off when my father went missing. Instead, I didn't have the motivation to do it all myself, and challenge myself to push my limits further. It wasn't until you arrived to save my ass that I realized that my old way of life is to be abandoned. Thanks to you, I'm beginning to see the kind of world we live in, and that I must keep pushing myself or else I'll fall back and lose my life. I think that's what my father kept trying to imply, but I was too blind to see it." Ryal explained further, trotting his exhausted feet along the sands of the region.

"You sure as hell like talking about your father. Here I am without an ounce of exercise, listening to this profoundly fit guy complain about how he could be _so_ much better. Well now that you learned your little life lesson, maybe we should start at a reasonable level and adopt your training philosophy when the time comes. How about that, buddy?" Kento smiled, giving Ryal a light punch to the arm to signify their now permanent partnership.

With a smile in return, Ryal nodded his head, "Yeah, I'd like to get things rolling, when the time comes."

"Now then, let us avoid conversations that exposes such private matters. Afterall, we're carrying along a Saiyan who wants to enslave us." Kento commented. Ryal responded with a slight chuckled, worn down by fatigue. Sheryl, who was slowly drifting off to unconsciousness, kept little notice of the conversation. The same thoughts were still rummaging through her head, and though she picked up on a few statements here and there, it was of little concern to her. She didn't offer an opinion, and simply chose to rest.

"It's not that private. In fact, there's nothing I really care to hide from anyone." The tall man shrugged.

"Fair enough. I can't wait to get out of these stupid deserts. I could use a little society right about now. Too bad we're incredibly far away from any of it." Kento spoke.

"My father would've smacked you for saying that. He doesn't tolerate laziness." Ryal stated.

"On about your dad again huh? What's with him anyways?"

Ryal turned his gaze towards Kento, "He sets a good example for what the ideal training mindset should be, so I'll be enforcing that every time you make a mistake. You want to get stronger, right?"

The shorter fellow sighed, "Yeah, but not now. Let's settle and be safe from anything life threatening first before we decide to commit to training."

"My father would've forced you to run the rest of the day had you said that in his presence." Ryal smirked.

"Shut up about your dad, willya? I'm tired of hearing it." Kento snapped out of annoyance.

Ryal laughed, "I'm just kidding around. We'll worry about it all later. Just lightening up the mood y'know?"

"Guess you're right. I'm just a bit stressed and all with you around. For some reason, ever since we met, we've become this massive magnet to people who want to remove us, or at the very least, our freedom. I'm startin' to feel like you're the epitome of bad luck and I'm blessed with the job to clean up all your troubles." The traveler mused, slowly rubbing his chin as they moved along the desert.

"Hey, I returned the favor. As long as you help me, I'll help you!" Ryal exclaimed.

"Otherwise known as friendship, my friend. Had any of this shit got by one of us alone, we would've been toasted into a crisp. We're gonna stick together, no matter how bad it gets, right?"

Ryal nodded, feeling a sense of confidence with his newly made friend. Now that they've provided each other so much in such little time, there's no doubt a permanent partnership is made. Ryal felt lucky to have made it this far given the circumstances. Kento is right; the world is really unforgiving. One must push constantly in order to stay alive in the world of all people. Ryal knew well that without Kento, he would've been pushed aside and left to die without any legacy to leave behind. Even though he successfully pulled him and Kento out of such a bad situation, he owed his life to the little guy.

Looking up at the clear sky, Ryal felt the heat of the sun press onto his face. "Yeah, we'll stick together, Kento."

* * *

Took me awhile to get something updated, but at least there's a lot more content here than usual. Given this is a larger chapter I'm bound to have made quite a few grammar errors. At least I hope it's fine. :/


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Days passed on as the men, women and children walked the desert. Nearly a month before, the lizard people from the north had taken Fleon facing little resistance. With each passing sun, shedding its heat everlastingly from the sky, with no visible cloud coverage in the entire month, the refugees of Terrinosis pushed onward. No rainfall, no place to stop, no ponds to drink from. It was a one way trip, and hell of a massive one at that. In an appreciable feat of discipline, all of the escaping people led by the soldiers were ordered group by group to take rest on carried carriages and platforms dragged along by the fit and strong. This tactful strategy allowed the best efficiency for combining rest with the most soon arrival for their destination, and avoid any cases of starvation with what little food they carried with them. Marvin knew well that anything and everything they ate came from the homes the refugees fled from, and it was very limited. Children and women were spared most, whereas many men were left behind to starve to death. Though he wasn't viewed as illustrious or any of the sort, it's only the right thing he will do and that is to minimize the casualties.

However, in the current hour, Marvin along with his two co-workers finally saw the walls rise as they approached the protected city. These weren't just any walls. They were reinforced with patrols and a formidable forcefield to keep the ki crazies out and only let in passengers carrying an ID. Luckily for these people, the man in the trench coat had exactly the right thing to allow these people, identification or not, inside the city. This is the famous trade capital of world, bordered a the most northern part of the desert where a sea border occurs. Cevine, occupied by the International Justice Association, lives here where they walked to. It was indeed a long, tiring trip but they have made it.

Marvin tilted his hat up to get a better view of the city walls, partially submerged to the eye by floating dust particles swept up by the wind. The forcefield remained invisible as it usually does, only appearing faintly when a bird foolishly sweeps in, only to bounce off as a crisp corpse, dead to its inability to comprehend its existence. The investigator turned around to get a view of the long trail of hungry women and children. A large portion of what it once was is no longer with them to his dismay. Nobody shall fall behind no more however. They're now in a safe haven, away from the lizard horde.

"Looks like we're finally in luck." Marvin sighed, pulling out a lighter and a pipe. He took a smoke at the moment they knew for sure they would be safe.

Garmogin, the shorter, bulky man paced from close behind. His usual expression was stern and serious, though it felt reassuring, because his moral couldn't easily be trampled. Especially now, where he felt irritated having walked for nearly a month without sleep could always look back to see the brisk man marching along with such a phenomenal determination. The bloody guy could seriously be strapped to a chair and be forced to eat nails and sewage water day and night, and look happy doing it.

"You could use some rest, sir." The loyal Saiyan commented, turning his gaze slightly to his commanding officer.

"You're right about that. The second I get these damned kids sorted out I'll be hitting the sack for at least a week." Marvin responded, puffing out a cloud of smoke. He used whatever drugs to keep on going through each shivering night and dreadfully hot day. It was important that he was there to keep things moving along, and shifts commence properly.

Garmogin couldn't help but chuckle, "Sleep is for the weak."

"Go to hell." Marvin shot back jokingly with a grin, smoking continuously. After letting out another puff of smoke, he turned back to his companion, "Ever figure what it would be like had we indulged ourselves in some rest? The desert would become the worldwide cemetery."

"I'd imagine looting some barbaric settlement. A Saiyan has a great appetite, you see." He remarked.

"And the man likes a good night's rest. We're quite different in certain aspects, but I'm more concerned with your big bloody belly eating up all the scarce resources here. Saite was a greedy little shit during this ride and I'm not impressed with him. He snuck out a few treats and we failed to feed one of the men that could've made it with us." Marvin spoke.

"Haven't you confronted him?" Garmogin asked.

"Nope. I'll be chatting with him once we're inside though."

The two kept walking along, and behind them the exhausted refugees whom showed a great deal of delight at the distant walls. Sooner, when they approached, Marvin stepped forward to the front gate and held out his IJA ID in front of the camera, and as a response, the gate opened, or rather a highly reinforced compact door designed to repel any attack.

Low mumbles soon resounded among the refugees who entered the great wondrous city. Marvin looked out into the architectural brilliance of Cevine, with structures standing high and mighty, crafted skillfully by the builders who brought them into existence. A large populous sound emanated from the city limits as he and the people entered in. Marvin halted at the side along with Garmogin to watch everyone gather, and soon followed Saite, who flew above and landed next to his commanding officer. Marvin saw him approach with his arms crossed, expecting a report on the numbers of the Terronian refugees left compared to what they started off with.

"Hello sir."

"What are the numbers?" Marvin demanded, scanning the bunched up crowd centred between confused residents of the city.

"We have three thousand two hundred six remaining. Before we left, there were four thousand one hundred seventy-nine. Nine hundred seventy-three people died during the trip due to attrition, sir." Saite reported.

"Nearly a thousand, huh?" Marvin mused, biting his lip as he watched the people who were starving as they discussed manners. "We're gonna have a talk later, Saite. For now, bring these people to the town hall and I'll make sure they'll have a meal prepared." Marvin ordered.

"Yes sir!" The Saiyan responded before leading off with the people with an announcement. The man in the trench coat levitated into the air, looking down at Garmogin.

"Come with me." He said. Without a response, Garmogin followed him.

The two flew above the city buildings, grasping the great extensive size of the beautiful city. At the very edge, they could faintly see the waters that of which the city borders, along with two iconic landmarks. One, a large arena that showcases tournaments of fighting and the town hall itself; a building with an incredibly large, gold-plated dome in the middle with a high-standing shiny silver pillar located at each corner of the rectangular shaped structure. This wasn't only a town hall; it also held home to nobles and is so commonly referred to as the heavenly palace, where even the gods themselves would dream of walking amongst the inner halls of the place. Not only was it a fantastic sight to see, the sheer size of this byzantine structure was enough to hold a thousand people with ease.

Marvin landed directly in front of the entrance of the building. He began to walk over towards the decorated doors with Garmogin pacing close behind. He strolled on into the front hallways of the marbled palace, recognizing all of the paintings neatly hung on either wall, composed from famous artists across the globe. The ceiling showed a convexed styling of design and all the way down the enormous hallway a single painting shows of the sea border that connects to the city from the beach. Marvin always found himself observing the ceiling and the walls every time he returned to this location, because the artwork was simply remarkable.

A branch of hallway connected to the left of Marvin, where a noble walked out with two guards standing close behind. The noble took notice of the man in the trench coat, smiling faintly at the sight of his arrival. Marvin noticed this appearance and nonetheless, smiled back.

"Buddy! You're just the one I'm looking for." Marvin greeted wholeheartedly, approaching him with a wide grin and his arms held wide open.

"Marvin! You're looking a bit tired aren't you?" The noble responded, embracing the man in a short lived hug.

As the two broke off, Marvin rested his hands on his old friend's shoulder, "Gerald, I got favour to ask ya. I need you to prepare a nice big dinner for the three and a quarter thousand refugees from Fleon."

"From _Fleon?_ For goodness sake, that city is thousands of miles away." Gerald gasped, expressing not only concern but shock for the unexpecting news.

"Look, we can discuss it later. These people have no more food and it's urgent that we feed them or else they'll die." Marvin urged, letting go of his friend. With a quick nod, Gerald turned away and headed off for the chefs in the palace to take care of such a deed.

"We shall have a meal prepared so delicious and grand that these poor starving people will no longer suffer from hunger!" The noble cheered on as he quickly made his way down the hallways. Marvin grinned and turned around. Garmogin, who was silent and standing only a few feet away took by his side.

"How could he prepare up enough food to feed several _thousand_ people?"

Marvin chuckled, "You haven't been here before, have you?"

The bulky Saiyan shook his head, "Not at all, sir."

Without hesitation, the man smirked and reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a few coins before slapping it onto Garmogin's palm.

"See for yourself. You're dismissed."

The stood at attention and saluted his commanding officer, "Yes sir!"

Marvin headed for the front doors and overheard the loud steps that grew fainter as his co-worker dashed down the hallway. He thought about attending a café to attend to his hunger needs before renting a hotel and resting for a good while. Everything he needed to do was done, and now he can rest peacefully.

 **. . .**

A full month has passed, and here he was, day after day, repeating the same rigorous motion he thought he'd never have to endure. Under the same hot sun, which he grew accustomed to over time, he repeated the same training routines. He looked left, feeling the sweat drop down the side of his cheek. His friend did the same thing, only with less weights. Only a week ago the poor guy felt half of that, the things that stacked onto his back to appear like a tower. He looked back down, seeing the moist sand that dwelled with the salty liquid that fell from his aching body. Outside the shadow of his propped up body, the sweat evaporated almost immediately while he kept on producing more. Eventually, the young man thought it would rain back down somewhere, and in heavy loads he could bring about the life of trees in even the most desolate of places. A smirk formed on his face at the thought of that ridiculous thing, even though his exertion was enough to put him out of consciousness.

Ryal's eyes signaled drowsiness, and even though he continued his everlasting motion of push ups with dozens of bricks stacked onto his back, he dozed out. His eyes closed, and he thought of how and why he got to where he was, somehow. By some remarkable display of luck he was given the privilege to have this opportunity, and also have his life saved at the same time. The same could be said about his companion, Kento, who performed the exact same training methods though only with less weights.

 **\- One Month Ago -**

They walked for hours, and with little resources. They dropped off the unconscious girl and found the food there to be spoiled. An ant colony formed where the groceries were left, and what little they salvaged was enough to get them to a nearby settlement that lies just ahead of them in sight. Both Ryal and Kento knew well of the risks that took place here, and how the Saiyans were a bunch that cannot be predicted easily. They need more food to get to Cevine, a city that exists thousands of miles away and even Ryal would require a large number of hours to travel that far given the weight he would have to carry, the lack of nutritious food, the alarmingly hot weather, the soreness he got from the battles he engaged in previously. Even at this point a bruise remained from the searing hot beam that was fired at his hip which would greatly affect his speed. In terms of deciding, all of the options imposed risks. Either he got the resources from a small, isolated settlement or risk death by running across several miles of sand with nothing in his stomach.

But here they are, deciding that it's a better idea to ask for food by selling another one of Ryal's precious minerals he found in the caves nearby his home. Another one will have to do for this trip. Afterall, life requires risks.

Approaching the settlement, Ryal diverted a lot of attention. The reason was simple; he had hell of a lot of blond hair, a trait that Saiyans lacked. Kento's concern grew because had Ryal been a black-haired individual, it was possible that he could get away with pretending to be a Saiyan given his strong build. But nope, blond hair and blue eyes gave it all away.

Kento stood directly behind Ryal, careful not to engage in any affairs with the settlers because he was most vulnerable. If an attack were to occur, he was at the biggest risk. Ryal on the other hand, had a _chance_. Not a significant chance, but a chance he did have.

They received glares. A lot of them. Some more than others, many of them telling the same kind of story. They were unwelcomed, just as he predicted. As they entered the inner limits of the settlement, Kento approached Ryal quietly, whispering into his ear.

"Look over there. That must be a place where they sell food"

Ryal nodded in agreement and began to stroll over to the front of the shop, ignoring more glares from the commoners. He slowly opened the door, peering in and trying to avoid being the centre of attention. To his dismay, however, the second he walked in, all of the Saiyans that sat at the bar turned their gaze and noticed the blond lad sneak his way in through the door.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the males shouted out, puffing his chest out and leaning over his friend's shoulder to get a better glimpse of Ryal. It was quite clear that the man was tipsy to say the least, seeing as he was loud and abrupt enough drive everyone's attention to the newcomers. Immediately as Kento entered, his heart sunk like a ship, noticing that he and Ryal blissfully walked into a _bar_ of all places, not just any place that sells food.

Ryal halted in his tracks, noticing the man call him out front across the room. "None of your business." He said bluntly, before approaching the counter with a frightened Kento close behind.

"Hey, kiddo. Aren't ya a little young to be comin' here?" One of the Saiyan men questioned. Before Ryal turned to answer, another man bummed in on the statement.

"Silly goof. He ain't young. He's a human. Look at his hair!" The man next to him rebutted.

"Oh, why that oughta explain why he looks like a bloody toothpick! Haha!" The Saiyan joked, followed with a series of laughter between the two tipsy men. Ryal gritted his teeth a little, but paid it no mind.

The bartender leaned in on the counter with a smirk, "May I help you?"

Ryal saw his opportunity arise and grasped the jewel in his hand, "Me and my friend are stranded out here, and we were wondering if any of you guys sell food around here?" Ryal asked cautiously, trying not to attract too much attention.

"Pal, we sell drinks here. The market is on the other side of town." The bartender broke out, taking one of the empty glasses and cleaning it down with a rag.

"Man, we got some stranded folk out here boys. Maybe we oughta' teach em the rules around here, eh?"

"Yeah! It's the 'proper thing' to do, right? Ha!" Another one shouted, erupting more laughter among the Saiyans at the bar while the rest sitting at tables simply spectated without much concern.

"Let's go, Kento." Ryal whispered to his friend. He nodded in response, and the two quickly turned around and made it for the door. However, it wasn't long before one of the Saiyans took notice of this.

"Rule number one, don't turn your back!" One exclaimed, before grabbing Ryal's shoulder. A bit irritated, Ryal turned his head around to confront his followers for once, only to meet with a hard fist directly to the face. The blond lad crashed through many of the tables, before hitting the wall with a great thunk, causing empty glasses to fall over and shatter on the floor. The laughter boomed across the room once again. Kento widened his eyes in fear, feeling his heart thumping out of his chest and his legs loose all feeling. He was next, and it _wasn't_ going to end well for him.

"Buffoon! Those are rules in a fight! Not 'proper etiquette' around here!" Another exclaimed, erupting more laughter. Some slammed their hand on the bar, face planting themselves down in laughter.

With a chuckle, the Saiyan retracted his fist, "Oh, my bad." He said with a smirk. They thought for sure that Ryal was completely out, perhaps to the point where he may have accidentally killed him.

"Hey, you should 'help him up' y'know? And say you're 'sorry'."

"They say it's respectful to dig em a grave, yeah? I think it's 'bout time we give him a proper burial right guys?"

As the laughter and jokes continued being thrown around, Ryal groaned as the pain stung in his cheek. He's never experienced a hit like that before in his life, and he least expected it too. He's lucky to still be conscious despite all that he's been through. Maybe it was the adrenaline that kicked in earlier, knowing what kind of situation they walked into just a minute ago.

The blond lad began to pull himself off the ground. A large, purple bruise appeared on the left side of his face, and his head felt like it was lit in a microwave, but he still felt every nerve in his body. He wasn't _too_ dizzy, afterall. Eventually, he got up on one foot, and began pushing himself up with the assistance of a nearby table.

Soon after, with everyone's gaze returning to the blond-haired individual, the crowd whistled and cheered. The Saiyan who hit him however, just stared blankly. Another one leaned onto the man's shoulder and spoke into his ear.

"Why aren't you a bit rusty, huh? You can't even knock out a human." The man spoke in his ear, causing the Saiyan to grit his teeth in distaste.

"Alright, tough kid. You're commin' outside with me to fight."

Kento, felt like shitting himself at that very moment, unable to comprehend the situation at hand. He felt sincerely bad for Ryal for having to endure this painful torture, and all he could do was sit and watch and wait for his turn to get pounded on.

On the other hand, Ryal couldn't hear a thing. His ears rang louder than any shout or holler that could come from the room. He tried to take a seat on one of the seats to ease his tension, while he squinted his eyes several times to get a better sight of his surroundings. Orientating himself seemed to be a challenge in of itself at this point, let alone fighting a fully grown Saiyan man.

Then it happened.

"Alright, enough. Leave him alone." A large, bulky man huffed from a dark corner of the room. Everyone remained silent instantaneously. Kento couldn't believe it. _Did they all just shut up?_

"Move." The same voice demanded, causing all of the drunk Saiyans to immediately make way for the colossal giant to move through, or at least that's what it looked like from Kento's perspective. The guy pressed on through, and his arms were ginormous. The guy's biceps are like the size of his waist. More so, he appeared taller than Ryal and wide enough to look like he'd struggle fitting through a door. Compared to the other Saiyans, he wasn't someone you fool around with. He was dead on serious, and he alone could instill fear into all of the trash talkers in that room. It was quite the spectacle to see.

"You, come with me." The large hulkish man insisted. Kento didn't protest for even a second, and nodded his head the instant those words reached his ears. The man reached for Ryal and threw him over his shoulder before heading for the door. He pushed it wide open and hunched his back over, ducking his head to fit through before waiting for Kento to follow his lead.

Kento fought back the urge to through the continuous stream of questions that entered his head. He didn't know this man, nor did he understand the motives behind this sudden occurrence. All he did was freeze the moment that happened in that moment like clicking a button on a clicker, and headed out with him and Ryal while strolling off to who knows where. This has to be either the greatest coincidence to occur in his life, or the worst. Was he going to be captured once again? Or was he going to be released?

The incredibly large Saiyan brought them across town, towards the outskirts towards a hut, much like Sheryl's in appearance and size. The only distinguishable factor was the size of the doors that lead in and a fairly higher roof, which was there for obvious reasons. He didn't even grasp the doorknob at the front once approaching it; he just touched it with his titan finger and thumb and gently gave it a twist before retracting the door slowly, treating it like a flimsy thing while trying not to pull the entire house apart. It was perhaps one of the most amusing things he ever saw in the entirety of his lifetime.

The two entered the hut, and without sparing a second, the giant dropped Ryal's body onto the couch, who was barely able to tell what was going on at this point. The poor fellow must have suffered a concussion from that sucker punch earlier.

"Sit down and relax. You're safe now." The man softened, grabbing several glasses of water and a bag of ice from his bar refrigerator. He came back into the living room and handed Kento a glass of water before setting the other two between himself and Ryal respectfully.

"So why did you do that?" Kento questioned, trying to settle the confusion and sudden fright he experienced earlier. He direly needed answers, and felt like he was going to go through some kind of mental breakdown if he didn't.

The large man leaned in closely, "There's only one other man with that kind of hair that can survive a hit like that." He stated, tempting Kento to look over to Ryal, who appeared to be sleeping. The large bruise alone stung to watch, giving Kento the shivers as to what would happen if he received that blow. However, that answer only gave rise to more questions. How was that supposed to be relevant somehow?

"You must be thinking of more questions," He continued, hitting the nail on the head. Kento felt a bit relieved, knowing that his feelings were met with understanding. The man reached over and took a sip of the water before setting the glass down, preparing his tongue to speak. "I feel like this kid is a direct relative of a man I once knew."

Kento raised a brow, interested in hearing more. "What makes you think that?" He asked further. Given his facial structure, the large man looked like he was middle-aged, meaning he had quite a bit of experience and knowledge to share to the world. He also wore an eye patch, a detail he never really payed attention to beforehand, which also meant that he had a lot of experience in combat.

"Simple. He looks nearly identical to a guy I knew. It's not just the damn hair. It's _everything_. He's got the clothes, the height, that sword on his back, those eyes, and the fact that he remained conscious after a grown ass Saiyan slugged him across the face without a single expectation of it." He explained very clearly, making it seemingly obvious and conspicuous. Kento didn't say anything, only expressing a lot of interest at the idea while maintaining his skepticism. "If that kid isn't related to him then I got no clue. I could be a crazy old geezer who gets mixed up all the time. One hundred and five is a long time to live afterall."

Kento's eyes widened, "What!? How are you that old?" He exclaimed.

"Saiyans naturally live longer kid. It's only been about thirty years since I lost most of my youth. I still got about another forty before I'm completely old." He remarked, resting on the couch and taking a deep breath.

"So who's this guy you keep talking about?" Kento pressed on, extracting information to his content.

"Rodrick Flint." The Saiyan answered upfront, pausing a little before beginning to elaborate. "I've talked to the man and fought alongside him a few times. He often likes to disappear for no reason, and fights like a champion. Hell, he is a champion at fighting. He's won some pretty high leveled tournaments way back, especially with that punch fighting they called boxing. I remember seeing him knock the hell out of top fighters and receiving all of the fame for it. And with that, he had a lot of challengers confront him. Then he got fed up with it and left for a good decade or so. I swear on my soul that he spent those years hiding away raising a kid like that. I mean, he looks pretty young and fit, but clearly unrefined in power. I bet his daddy got bored and went off to go dick around somewhere like he usually does."

Hearing the man ramble on, Kento couldn't help but think about the many times Ryal liked to mention his father around like he's some sort of deity. Now he understood why, or so he hoped. This father figure seems pretty accurate to the man's guesses, so it would be reasonable to think that Ryal's father was a world class fighter given all of the praise he got from his son.

"So you wanted to save his son, huh?" Kento presumed, receiving a nod from the larger man.

"Absolutely. Call me Kuro, by the way." He greeted, extending his giant paw forward. Kento brought his hand forward, engaging in a handshake in which Kuro tried his very best to not crush him.

"I'm Kento, nice to meet you Kuro. Thanks for saving me and my friend's ass back there."

"No need to thank me kid. It's all in the day's work." He responded, taking another sip of water. He reached for a remote and clicked the power button, turning on a primitive looking TV on one side of the living room.

"I find it surprising that you have electricity and signals all the way out here." Kento commented, receiving a great laugh from the giant.

"We get our power from our Saiyan might. Just a handful of us could light up entire cities. Our signals? We use satellite. I'd say it's pretty convenient." He responded, breezing through channels on the rather small television set. Kento didn't exactly understand how the 'Saiyan might' thing worked, but it was best not to question it.

He later stopped at a news station airing in Getsus, where they showed footage of Arcosian invasions reaching through many of the towns in the eastern area of Terrinosis. It looks like they have expanded far deeper than Kento initially thought.

"When they tried to take Fleon without causing any attention to neighboring countries, the IJA was able to shine light onto the subject. They were pretty smart in attacking at night, but it just so turns out that knocking off all the lights in a populated city is pretty noticeable from space." He talked on through, while Kento watched the broadcast intently.

"I also forgot to mention the _other_ thing." He added, as replays of the older battles began to show. At first, there was the discovery of a few individuals singlehandedly taking on a large plethora of Arcosian soldiers, with one in particular dressed in a trench coat. In one scene from above, shows a small figure hopping across buildings while fleeing from a scene that was engulfed in flames. Kento narrowed his eyes and adjusted his glasses, getting a closer look at the TV. That person hopping rooftops was more than just 'familiar'. That was Ryal during the night of the shutdown in Fleon.

"Now you know every reason why I'm interested in your friend. It seems to me that he, and perhaps _you_ have an interest in stopping this lizard threat."

Kento said nothing, watching the broadcast more to see the Arcosian threat growing increasingly large. They were actually _nearing_ his home town, which was deeply concerning to his family's well being that lived there. It wouldn't be far fetched at all for the young traveler to admit to being against the advancing threat, especially since he had an interest in getting stronger with Ryal.

"I just so happen to be the expert at removing lizards, and you do it in one way. Fighting. Now I'm far off my prime, so I wouldn't mind lending a hand to you and your friend in some training to go serve your country a good deed." Kuro continued, now looking straight at Kento.

"Training?" A soft grunt spoke from behind the two. They both saw Ryal with his eyes barely open, having just tuned into the conversation. Kento grinned at the sight of his friend recovering from the strike earlier much better than he expect.

"Yeah, I'm up for training." Kento said, feeling a sense of excitement rush through his body.

 **\- One Month Later -**

In one moment to the next, Ryal knew he'd be going down a very different path than he anticipated originally. He didn't know exactly why or how, but it lead to him performing extremely difficult training routines under the guidance of an ex-military soldier, who definitely showed no remorse for the kinds of things he'd throw at him. Every night, they would sit around a campfire and the old man would tell his stories with a lot of passion. During the day, in between long lasting training sessions, they sat around in the shade and rested in the nice cool breeze that always seem to favor their location. When they ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner, they were blessed to have pleasantly tasty food brimming with freshness, much like the meals Ryal prepped up from his hunting trips. He distinctly remembered the satisfying feelings he got from temporarily breaking off from constant training. His body felt good and warm, flexible and just, better. Everything he did gradually became more effective. It was fairly similar to the training he experienced at a young age, when his father pushed his limits over and over, where he'd feel his body grow given time. Above all else, the experience during the past month was rewarding in the end, because he knew that with his strength increasing, he'll surpass the obstacles he found to be troubling beforehand.

Suddenly, a foot connected with Ryals forehead quite harshly. Being snapped out of his daydream, the young man fell flat onto the ground that he worked prolongedly to prevent.

"Stop your sleeping and keep your eyes open, kiddo. You may think your body can autopilot but in a fight it can be a complete detriment to your health." Kuro spat. Ryal simply took a mental note and pushed himself off the ground once again and continued his training.

"Besides, it's time I oughta' kick things up a notch. The both of you have been training with

me for exactly one month! It's time I test out both of your progresses, so take the weights of and get up." He added.

Both Kento and Ryal went by the command issued by Kuro and leaned over to the side a bit, letting the bricks slide off and hit the sand. The two let out a sigh for relieving themselves of the weights before getting to their feet rather quickly, waiting for orders to be given.

"Now then," The large man began, pacing back and forth between to the two pupils. He gently stroked his chin with his oversized paw and began to back up. He then took a fighting stance after gaining some distance.

"I'll let you guys have a round with me. Let's see if any decent progress was made. Don't disappoint me now, or else both of your training will be cut and I'm sending you off somewhere else so you can do something more productive with your lives." He huffed.

Kento felt sick to his stomach, and immediately felt like throwing up at the thought of physically engaging with a man whose muscle mass outweighs him times three. Ryal on the other hand, went straight into his fighting stance. He felt nervous, yes, but he had this kind of experience before. His father did the same sort of thing, testing out his strength on the occasion.

"Don't be afraid now. I won't hit back." Kuro added with a wide grin. Suddenly, Kento felt a bit better after hearing that statement, widening his stance and bending his knees a bit. He also rose his hands, attempting to adopt a proper fighting stance solely based on the fights he saw in movies as well as the ones he personally spectated.

"There's no reason to fear. Both of your strengths have increased tremendously and it definitely shows, particularly for you Kento. You've certainly packed on some muscle in those biceps." He complimented.

"Thanks." Kento nodded with a faint smile.

"But this will be the only time I won't be hitting in a sparring match, so it's time you make your training seriously count from here on." Kuro stated, cracking his fingers and knuckles as he awaited for the two to make a move.

Kento gulped and didn't assume the first move, confused as to how he was suppose to fight. Presumably, you're expected to throw punches and stuff like that, but the actual art of fighting was never really taught. Instead, he's being told to simply run on in and try to fight the man without any real combat training. Ryal on the other hand, was way ahead in the game. He had combat training and experience, plus a profound level of superhuman ability. He'd fare far better in an actual battle, or at least now he did.

Ryal dashed off for the giant first, leading in with a flying side kick directly towards his head. When he dashed off, Kento noticed that Ryal's speed still remained similar to his eyes. He appeared like a _blur_ , and a very hard one to track too. He questioned if the body building and training that he endured meant anything at all in the grand scheme of things, especially since his progress was significant. If he still had the exact same skills when it came to tracking someone's speed, did everything he do matter at all really? Was he just stronger now but nothing superhuman?

Kuro caught Ryal's foot with ease, before letting go of the blond man. He landed on the ground, and closed the distance even more before releasing a rapid barrage of hand strikes, which of course, Kento couldn't even keep track of. Ryal was repelled however, and not with much effort either.

"Come on kid, I know you're faster than that. Don't hold back!" He barked, encouraging Ryal to speed up his attacks which still nonetheless, got repelled and dodged anyway. He pressed onward however, determined to land at least one hit on his opponent who was clearly out of his league. It didn't matter though, since it was all a test of training. All Kento could do was stare in awe at the sheer speed of his attacks casually being ignored and parried away without much of an effort. Suppose that even though Kento and Ryal were two completely separate in terms of powers and abilities, it's also evident that the man was in his own area of strength. Ryal couldn't get near him at his very best, even with the amazing feats he pulled off in the battles he had a month earlier plus the boost of the training.

"Kento, aren't you gonna jump in?" Kuro shouted from the constant swinging of punches all aimed to hit their target. The smaller man sighed, feeling nervous and unwilling to participate in the current battle. He paused, staring at the sand while lost in thought, trying to muster up the will to charge in and give it everything he had, even if it all seemed pathetic and laughable to the other two who dwarfed him in power.

After another moment or so, Ryal took notice of this and jumped out of the fray, dashing back over to his friend who was frozen in place.

"Hey dude. What gives?" Ryal asked out of concern for his friend.

Kento scoffed a bit, trying to think up of a clear and concise response, only to listen to all of the thoughts rage inside. He felt far too embarrassed to even think of trying, and felt like he'd get in Ryal's way for trying to land a hit. He kept throwing around mental blocks to excuse him from this one training session he never expect would happen.

"Well, look… Just." He stammered, before Ryal gently placed a hand on Kento's shoulder, attempting to grab his attention.

"We get it. You're far behind us and all. Don't be ashamed of giving it your all. Afterall, he is trying to assess our training, right? He can't know how strong you are _if you don't try_." He spoke, attempting to reason with his friend which he knew well would get through to him. If there was one Ryal knew more than anything when it came to Kento's skill sets, it was his ability to utilize logic and reason better than most if not everyone else he met.

"Sure, I get that. I just don't want to get in your way I guess." Kento admitted, still finding excuses to avoid being in the current dilemma. Ryal shrugged and gestured his hand towards Kuro, who stood still and patient, waiting for Kento to give it a try.

"Have a go. If it makes you feel better, the amount of strength you gained over the past month is crazy. I think you'd be pretty surprised at how far you've gotten, really. I dunno what else to say." He spoke genuinely, allowing Kento a chance for himself to be assessed with Ryal's own interference. This was it, he couldn't fall back on any more excuses for the matter. His only chance was to either drop out, or perhaps make a fool of himself and keep going. Not only that, a bit of him felt annoyed at Ryal. His attempt at consolidation only triggered his ego. The guy was already way ahead of him. Who was he to say that he, a regular guy was becoming 'crazy strong' or whatever? It's enough that Ryal could disappear before his very eyes and shoot laser beams around.

Kento shook his head, trying to clear himself of his negative thoughts and concentrated at the important matters. Maybe that dirty little feeling he got inside was a good motivator in all of this. He's got to use it to his advantage this time around, because that'll surely make an impact on his training progress. The short man focused his eyes on Kuro, who remained still in a fighting stance. Reluctantly, Kento began his charge, dashing off from his initial starting position and quickly made it down the field.

To his surprise, the distance he was covering was far above anything he expected himself, almost pulling him out of his concentration to think that he was able to go this far with simple training routines. He couldn't pull out now however. It's important to demonstrate the results of his training at this very moment. He focused with all the intent he had, and reached his hand far back just as he got close, and threw it as hard as he possibly could. To his expectation, Kuro caught the hand without much of an effort, but Kento knew well that it's worth all the effort to keep going. He retracted his hand and threw another fist at Kuro, which he parried away. He threw another fist before following up more, faster and faster. Kento had a fairly large interest in seeing how fast he could go with his attacks. He began to count the amount he could throw, and soon found his mind adapting quite quickly with his new-found speed. He counted at speeds he never thought his mind could initially keep up with and conceive of, and his fists flew and made contact with his opponent's parries several times per second. He experimented further and starting throwing different kicks, trying out different ways of throwing the attacks and utilizing his flexible body to continuously throw more attacks. Kento got the hang of this quite fast, and actually enjoyed what his training rewarded him with.

At one point, Kento leapt up into the air, ending up dozens of feet above the ground. He smiled in content, being able to see the ground from great distances simply by jumping. He then brought his foot up, planning to swing it down like an axe towards his foe's skull. However, Kuro took a single step back just before he could land the strike, and instead Kento struck the ground before him.

As a result, large chunks of sand and dirt kicked up from the ground and a fair sized crater formed where he landed. Turns out, when he really tried, he was capable of things that were in fact, superhuman. He just denied it otherwise mentally.

Kuro raised an arm to prevent the sand getting in his eye. Just as Kento brought his foot back and prepared for another attack, Kuro raised his hand to signal him to stop.

"Alright, enough is enough. You both pass." The Saiyan man asserted. A smile formed on the small man's face, as well as Ryal's who sat by and watched the whole thing.

Kento fell onto his back, prompting himself up on his elbows, letting out a few chuckles. "Yeah," He began, panting as he scanned the crater he recently created. "I think I like this." He said, chuckling again through his tired breaths. The brief interaction was exhilarating to say the least, a feeling he couldn't truthfully admit to have felt before.

Ryal approached Kento from behind before sitting down next to him, "I bet that felt pretty good. Just wait 'till you discover things like energy. It'll be a blast."

Kento nodded his head, still staring in disbelief at the crater he just made by swinging his foot down. "I want to see how far I can go with this sort of thing, y'know? I'm not used to anything like this, but I feel like I can tear down entire buildings, when only a month ago I struggled to open up bottles for god's sake."

"Worry not boys. We have all the time in the world to work our way up." Kuro spoke from the distance, tossing both of them jugs of water. Kento and Ryal caught them in unison, before they gulped it down to the last drop. A fresh sigh left the mouths of the two young students before they got up to proceed their training, more motivated than ever to achieve greater levels of strength.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The wakeful sunlight introduced itself through the draped windows of a dark, motionless room. In it, the digital clock ticked up once every exact minute, entering the early morning with gradual pace. The curtains of the window shined up to a bright, glowing yellow as the sun shot on through, illuminating the entire room to a relaxing yet inspiring feeling. In the following moments as the room's walls became more visible to the naked eye, and the darkest corners of the room were at last revealed, the man who lay in bed awoke. The man successfully slept through the evening and night, mostly due to his fatigue prior.

Marvin took a glance towards the hour displayed on his digital clock, surprised to see that he hadn't slept through the entire morning. In fact, it was many hours before noon would arrive, and he, therefore, had plenty of time to kill before he would attend his planned schedule for the day. It wasn't too hefty or anything, but really just a few arrangements to catch up on some of the news around his peers. Sometimes there was something valuable to gain from these meetings outside of simply getting together and having a good time of rest, which also felt like a necessity. Walking through desert sands for a straight month doesn't help the mind at all. It's really just a destructive maneuver, and one he won't be attempting ever again in his lifetime, hopefully.

The man groaned and gently tossed the bedsheets to the side before leaning up and planting his feet on the carpet floor. With a brief yawn and stretch of the arms, Marvin exited the bed and rubbed his eyes. He performed his basic needs, namely a sizeable breakfast and a quick, thorough wash in the shower before proceeding to the day ahead of him. He put on his clothes and headed for the first floor of the hotel, waving at a few of the staff who organized the building before taking his leave.

The investigator paced down the many streets of the city, enjoying the hike and filling up the large space of time between the current moment and the first planned activity on his mental schedule. With all this time to kill, however, there's no sense in throwing it all away for no good reason. He'd be better off strolling on over to the palace and catch up on everything, and maybe engage in some small talk with Garmogin or further inject his authority into that bloody thick-headed twat Saite.

As cynical as it may be, there wasn't any particular sorrow feeling when it came to lives being on the line. He worked for years, decades even. It's all familiar to him, and he was only concerned with the best possible results he could get. There wasn't a blindness to cruel decision making, particularly towards the selection of one poison or another. If one yielded worse results through logical thinking, he'd take the other option in a heartbeat, even if the public hated him for it.

But the greater deal occurs when one foolishly expels more lives for personal comfort. The fact that incredibly selfish acts like what Saite did can undesirably affect his reputation. Whatever the underlings do, leave a picture on the mentor, and that's completely unacceptable. Therefore, more discipline sounds like a fascinating idea. He didn't need this worthless baggage to bump his name down, so it's best to prevent it from happening ever again, even if it was such an extreme situation at the time.

Marvin continued his pensive stroll throughout the busy streets, filled with people rushing to work and kids riding the school buses. Even with the invention of flying cars, this populated place, a center of trade furthermore, didn't adapt to these newly crafted ideas that spread through the prosperous nations like wildfire. He'd like to know why that is, considering the communities around him seem to be several decades behind in technology. Seeing vehicles whir by on wheels appeared old, not to mention the traditional road systems still being used as the primary means of travel, as well as outdated structures and tools used in this current generation. Perhaps it would be understandable that the scientists in this populated area simply don't possess the kind of engineering expertise one would typically find in Terrinosis and especially Getsus. Yeah, they still use some of the old stuff like ground transportation but flying vehicles and sky highways were prominent in the downtown areas, as well as phones that possess far more advanced features than their practical cousins in trade Cevine and the eastern world. Even with these close partnerships with international organizations, none outside of the two western powers were able to produce technology to the point of being outrageously ahead of everyone, with the exception of Icea of course. They were able to manipulate the internet in Fleon, as well as locate and cut off all underground power lines that lead to the city. The intel required for such an act was unparalleled and it wouldn't be hard to assume that these Arcosians obtained some technology that at the very least, rivaled that of the two leading nations.

The whole thing didn't piece together very well, and it was always something he grew more concerned about the more he bounced between east and west. The IJA is aware of this too, trying to scratch the dirt for useful information, but it's no use. It wasn't at the moment at least. Afterall, he is part of that current investigation.

In the following minutes, which slowly turned into a few hours, he casually paced down the sidewalk that directly leads to the palace's front gate just a few miles ahead. The experience of approaching it with mere steps gave excitement, as well as strong anticipation. Marvin's eyes and focus gravitated to the architectural wonder that was the town hall, seemingly capable of housing a city inside its domed structure, which only grew bigger the more he came closer to it.

Marvin made his first step on the grand stairway, which flooded with various people entering and exiting the building. His footsteps echoed lucidly the more he traveled down the marble hallway. Around him, the vividly scintillating paintings expressed dimensions that would make a vulnerable man's stomach turn, though meticulously crafted with hardly attainable skill.

The man in the trench coat made several turns down various hallways, seeking out for the noble he had encountered the other day. He was one among many who resided within the interiors of the grand palace, endowed with wealth and gleaming with influence like his colleagues. Maintaining solid and profitable relations with these individuals brought along valuable treasures of knowledge often uninvestigated by the public eye. Marvin knew this fact well and intended to use it this time around. A look in the pale face of secrets requires such investment in skill and time. Despite the shady nature of his occupation as an investigator in foreign affairs, keeping solid reputation and being well known in certain areas brought advantages that very few are openly aware of. Interesting, how being a public figure doesn't necessarily make one exempt from being a spy.

However, even after visiting such a prestigious place on the occasion, it was a difficulty just navigating the artistic labyrinth, but slowly it grew more familiar as time persisted, and certain details stuck out more be it purely based on color or architectural design. On his mind, the only thing that was apparent is the general area of the nobles.

In the following moments, Marvin set foot onto a fairly wide indoor plaza from one of the branching hallways. Supposedly here, goods were shared among the upper class that lived around there, as well as basic services such as home cooked meals were exchanged in these areas. People roamed around this well decorated indoor neighborhood, wearing riches that would put a civilian's balance to shame. Showers of wealth were exchanged like a casual pastime, and the appearances of the populace were largely distinguishable and upper class.

Marvin marched on through the crowd and stuck out like a sore thumb with his run down coat and fairly unsuitable dress up relative to the standard. As a result, he received some odd and confused looks, though some may have recognized him given their looks of interest, but Marvin didn't have a use for catching up with every single person he greeted there. He needed to find that noble he interacted with just the other day.

Much to his luck, the unremarkably dressed man felt a repeated slight poke on his right shoulder. And with his instantaneous thoughts, his suspicions were confirmed of this sudden gesture. He turned around to meet Gerald once again, only much earlier than he had originally anticipated.

"Hey, pal! You're back already?" He greeted with a cheerful look. The young man's attitude grew on him quite well. Just being around him felt like an uppity mood swing all of the sudden, pleasurable and comforting knowing that the man was harmless and welcoming, and well known for providing his luxuries to any commoner he happened to befriend. Hearing his voice is a clear sign of stretching your legs out onto a cushiony recliner seated next to a warming fireplace, while maids provide refills for your high-quality tea. Yes, it's selfish to think that way, but true nonetheless.

"Yeah, I have no errands for the time being. I'm just stopping by for a visit." He responded.

"Good to hear!" Gerald beamed, waving away his two companions. "So, I suspect you wanted to chat for a little while?"

"Yup, just about." Marvin nodded.

"Fair enough. Follow my lead."

The poorly dressed man kept close behind the noble, trying to keep track of him as they pushed through the fairly packed hallway. Marvin occasionally tried to get a glance over the numerous heads just to obtain a decent sense of how much further they have to travel.

As they covered more distance, the crowds became more loose and free. Navigation and carefulness became much less of a necessity, and soon enough, they arrived at the door leading into the noble's tidy abode.

"Welcome, welcome. Have a seat anywhere you like. I shall prep up some tea first." Gerald insisted warmly, before heading off to another room. Marvin stopped, however, to observe the spotless burgundy carpet that he set foot onto, so tender and clean that he almost wanted to take his shoes off and give his respect towards the luxurious setting. Looking around, the living room immediately greeted him with several doorways of carefully buffed and polished rich wood. The room, appearing long and wide, presented a comforting but low amount of lighting, most of which originating from the fireplace up against on the wall on the right, comprised of shiny stone and a humble flame, where around it sat many stylish chairs with proper cushioning, positioned around a coffee table at the centre of it all. The visitor suddenly thought that his leather wear would suddenly plague this environment with its dirtiness. Nonetheless, Marvin went to his preferred seat assuming it wasn't the most relaxing one so his friend to take the ideal seat. It was no surprise that Marvin didn't like disturbing such a nice place.

Gerald arrived back into the room carrying fresh beverages straight out of the teapot and set them down on the coffee table located between the two opposing seats. The noble sat down across from Marvin, holding the ring of the cup by his finger and thumb. The visitor reached forward and helped himself with a sip of the drink, swallowing down the smooth heated liquid with pleasure. After a brief moment of silence, where the setting was now calm and relaxing, Gerald let open his mouth to initiate the conversation.

"Now you may speak about why you're here." He started.

"I have some thoughts regarding the recent news, which I'm pretty sure you're aware of." Said Marvin, stroking his chin gently.

"I presume you're referring to the sudden warmongering in the west?" He assumed, ready to demonstrate his endowed knowledge on the subject.

"Yup. I missed a lot over the last month trying to hurdle these refugees out of Fleon way back then. I've recently caught up on some of the news but, I figured that while I'm here, I hope you can provide something useful during these times. I know you're quite the guy for knowing stuff." He explained.

Gerald leaned back onto his chair whilst his eyes wandered the room, indicating his focus on any useful thought or idea. "Well I'm sure there are a lot of solutions, and I can certainly arrange one. You're concerned with fulfilling your duty, yes?"

Marvin nodded.

"And what exactly is this duty?" Gerald asked.

"My job is to infiltrate the Icean government, put it simply. However, given the circumstances, I also have other jobs to attend. I gotta help out the war going on and on top of that, keep the citizens safe. Now with all that being said, my bosses told me to prepare up a strong enough force of volunteers to help deal with the situation in the west and perhaps gain some info on the issues at hand. At this moment in time, I'm more concerned about whether or not we're equipped to handle this Arcosian threat as opposed to gaining more knowledge on the subject matter. It's clear that they're leading a high population of weaker foes backed up by titans, presumably their generals." Marvin said, gulping down his tea.

"Sounds like an important position you've been assigned there. So you want me to provide you with some useful items?" Gerald responded.

"Absolutely," Marvin exclaimed, setting down his teacup. "You're were obviously a big trader back then, right? A merchant to be exact? Now how about you give me some info you had about the Arcosians before this whole shenanigan took place?" Marvin asked.

"Well for starters, they were always divided into class by birthright. I'm sure you know this. The Arcosians that are immensely powerful and strong make up a very small portion of the gene pool, and it's widely apparent that they breed asexually. Why or how this came to be is difficult to determine, but their society is built around letting these genetically gifted few lead the nation because of their superior traits. There also seems to be an extremely large defining difference between those with better strengths than those that are much weaker, almost like they're an entirely different species from one another. Given our knowledge, the sole fact that they have always been isolated from the rest of civilization goes to show that we haven't acquired much knowledge at all about their existence. And as of recent, it's difficult to merely get ahold of who their leaders are."

"That's because their race is becoming increasingly disciplined. None of these lizards are willing to spill secrets at the expense of their lives except one that I've captured a month ago. My co-workers are interrogating him right now as we speak, and I have yet to know anything else about the whole thing going on, and your previous experiences with these creatures are exactly why I'm coming to you for discussions like these." Marvin added.

Gerald nodded, "I see. Suppose I can lend a hand. Just visit me whenever. Now, my experience with trading with these people is quite limited. A lot of the things I know about them are more often than not, based on my own observations. After all, when they traded, they were very keen on sticking together and careful to segregate themselves as much as possible. It wasn't so much that they detested human interaction, or interaction with anyone else for the matter. I believe it was more of a nationalistic thing. They were concerned with keeping themselves aligned and well presented in their own little group, and well, proud of who they were. They thought highly of themselves."

"Did they show off any significant level of personality? Or did they act like robots the entire time?" Marvin questioned.

"They certainly had some of their individual differences, despite their largely apparent similar ideals," Gerald responded.

"Sounds unfamiliar," Marvin commented.

"Your experiences are different?" Gerald asked.

"Yup." He nodded back, stroking his chin. "They're complete robots. Just about all of them, except for the one soldier we have in custody and based on intel, their supposed leader behind all of this."

"Well, I'll let you figure that dilemma out. It's your job. However, I do have some things I can give." Gerald stated before getting off his chair. "Come, follow." He gestured.

Marvin said nothing as he stood up and followed Gerald's lead, going back to examining the environment around him.

With a few turns, the nobleman approached a door at the end of a hallway and opened it, leading to a lengthy staircase leading down without any sign of light. Gerald flicked a light switch on the side and the whole staircase lit up, shedding light to the end of the stairs a fair distance away. Both of them walked down side by side and were soon greeted by a large open room, mainly comprised of special possessions and chests full of personal belongings, many of which were dusty. The noble began pacing around the perimeter of the room, examining every object and sometimes peeking in some cases, leading Marvin to question the man's memory. It wasn't too shocking, though; the noble lived a fairly long and eventful life just going by his looks.

"Ah, I think I found it." The noble signaled, opening a small chest placed on top of another. In it laid a single object, more specifically a ring with a bright red gem jarring out of it. "I remember receiving this as a gift from a fellow educated man, more specifically an archaeologist. His diggers managed to find this artifact which was thought to have originated from the classical ages before the dark times hit. It was a time where magic was widespread and often used with various materials such as this object." Gerald examined, picking up the piece of jewelry and holding it high.

"Magic? That's a rare thing to come by these days." Marvin commented, glancing at the item.

"Judging by older scriptures, magic was used far more than it is today, and eventually led to the great destruction of knowledge and fall of a vast western empire, speculated to have encompassed many varying cultures. But we'll never know for sure given that these historical texts have become such a rarity. Of course, with the absence of knowledge comes the absence of many forms of magic that we still have yet to rediscover." Gerald informed, grasping the item and dropping it into Marvin's coat pocket. "This object just so happens to be one of those things."

"Yknow, my boss would probably like to go and have a nice look in your basement. You have some pretty good stuff down here." The investigator stated.

"Well, most of these are just souvenirs really. Most of them are priceless, but some others may turn out to be useful in the right hands. I suppose someone like yourself can figure out how that ring works. Perhaps if you do, I can claim truthfully that I helped out a good cause, or at least I hope."

Marvin nodded, "I'll give it a try."

Gerald closed the small chest and sighed a bit, glancing around the room slightly, "That's just about all I can offer."

The two headed up the stair steps without another word, with the noble shutting the lights and closing the doors behind them, the two made their way back to the front living room of the home.

"Care to finish your tea?" The noble asked, catching sight of Marvin heading towards the door.

"It's fine, thanks anyway." Marvin declined, halting at the door. The man turned around just before he thought of reaching the doorknob and turned around. "I guess this is farewell. Thanks for everything."

"Oh, you're welcome back anytime Marvin. If you ever need my help, I'll always be available here."

The investigator nodded before heading out of the front door, tracing his thoughts back to the Arcosians, and what he'll eventually do with the ring. Chances are, it'll be a case of sending the thing into anybody familiar with the works of magic in this modern era of technology, which is a difficult task on its own. The use of magic is rare because it is so often labeled as a taboo. Turns out, that old history of magic destroying everything is still somehow ingrained in everyone's head. Doing it meant risking the chance of being a social outcast, or even to be kicked out of society and be stranded. Perhaps that's what lead the thing to be hidden inside a basement rather than being put up on a pedestal inside a museum. Magic is highly unpopular.

Marvin grabbed a phone out of his pocket, dialing down text messages to Garmogin and Saite as he made his way out of the building. There is a new objective on the line.

. . .

Rays of sunshine shot through the bedroom window like a laser, adding heat to the already scorched temperatures both inside and out. A girl sat at a desk, scribbling down drawings into a makeshift notebook to pass the time. There was hardly ever a silence where she lived now, given that she was forced to sleep in a small apartment in the same village she worked at. Saiyans walked around just outside where she would sleep, and nearby were small businesses, many of which were considered illegal in many areas. Places like bars and strip clubs were in a high swing. Drugs were sold on a day-to-day basis. That was the nature of most villages out in the great desert in most cases.

Sheryl leaned up, wiping her eyes after taking her pencil off her paper. She partly regretted having to move here, but it was necessary. All of her food went bad and immediately she ran low on money again. It's troubling to live back in her old home by herself nowadays with important resources becoming scarce. Instead, it's time that a part-time job in the village would be suitable for this case, and luckily she already had someone to talk to. It wasn't something to be proud of, considering it's comprised of dressing up in skimpy clothes and showing off for the local viewers. This brought some unwelcome attention and other undesirable things. But any Saiyan that wants to be healthy needs to have food on the plate, and she wasn't any good at farming or trade, nor was there anything to hunt. She just happened to have the looks for a certain job that wasn't the most prestigious.

Suddenly, the sound of a knock emitted from behind the door. Sheryl turned her head immediately as she heard this.

"Hey Sheryl, open the door." A man said, sounding quite familiar. Speaking of the devil, it just so happened to be her employer at her doorstep. She sighed and made her way to the entrance before opening it, seeing her boss standing upright with a cigar sticking out of his mouth.

"What do you want?" Sheryl asked tiredly, knowing this was supposed to be her day off.

"I gotta ask you a favor of you." The man started, prompting Sheryl to look up at the man's face, waiting for whatever he has to spill out. She wasn't excited about extra work, and her body expression made that very clear. "A couple of our ladies working the afternoon shift are sick and we need some replacements. Our customers aren't going to like women spreading disease around so I'm gonna have to ask you to fill in the gap." He brought up.

Sheryl scoffed and slammed the door shut before stomping off to her seat at the desk again. Who the hell did he think he is? This was her day off, and half the girls there barely fill in the hours they're supposed to work for. Why can't the buffoon just go and ask those lazy whores to shake their hips a little longer while she rested?

"Hey, Sheryl." The man piped up again, smacking the door once again. The young female sighed as rested up against the desk with her palm on her face. This is exactly the last thing she wanted. "Come on, open up." He continued.

"Fuck off. Go grab some other slut to do your stupid job." Sheryl retorted back, grabbing her pen and trying to regain her previous thoughts.

"Woman." He called again, not even mentioning her name this time just to get under her skin. Sheryl tried shutting her ears, suppressing any will to give in to this sort of crap. "Hey! I said _woman!_ " He said again, knocking on the door harder. Sheryl refused to say a word at this point, silently praying that he'll go away soon and leave her at peace. Was this the reward she got for increasing a number of hours she had to work just to earn a living?

"Just so you know, your paycheck is riding on this! Yknow what? No. Your job is."

Sheryl immediately planted her fist onto her desk, splitting it in half. She stomped up to her door and swung it open, meeting up with her employer once again, who had a smug grin planted on his face. The girl gritted her teeth and punched him square in the face before shutting the door again.

"Fine then! I don't want to be a slut anyway!" She spat, tracing back to her desk chair and plumping herself down onto it.

"Damned bitch." A voice echoed from down the hallway, with the sound of the front building door swinging open following soon after. Sheryl sighed again, coming back to her senses again. She was fairly disappointed over the fact that she broke her desk, but more so the fact that she lost her job. There wasn't anything else to succumb to at this point other than drugs, maybe. She didn't want to go that low, though.

Already the solution to her previous dilemma was becoming a colossal failure. Sheryl couldn't help but sit there and ponder the next thing she was going to resort to. The idea of drug trade was detestable at best, and highly unreliable for any standard of living. Before this whole shenanigan happened, all of her well-earned food ended up being spoiled. An ant nest sprouted up next to her old home, and as a result, she was forced to move here. All of this despite the fact that things were really going up.

A thought triggered at that exact moment. Things were going uphill for sure. Those two refugees, the short one particularly, mentioned something about a mass emigration from one of the western cities. On one hand, she can solely rely on robbery for the time being, but something like that isn't highly sustainable for long. However, on the other hand, there was the city they fled from. Since it's in complete turmoil, she might be able to get away with strolling on in and capturing some supplies without fear of getting caught, seeing most of these guys are preoccupied with war. Ideally, she could even get good relations with one side and perhaps with a few agreements, all of the feedings will be given to her. In this case, she'll end up being a mercenary; this is certainly a much more desirable job for a Saiyan than being a stripper.

A smile crept up onto Sheryl's face as an idea popped up in her mind. She'll kick a bunch of ass and get credit, food, and shelter for it. That alone is enough to satisfy her needs. The only potential problem is being able to hold her own against these warriors in the west. Regardless, anything for a living is worth it in the end.

The young Saiyan grabbed a few belongings, storing it in a small backpack before heading out of the door, taking a bite out of an apple she grabbed out of the basket. She arrived at the counter and placed down a few coins to pay for her stay before exiting the building, witnessing the other Saiyans walking up and down the streets often in groups. Without much more glancing at the scenery, she took to the skies and flew towards the west.

. . .

As the sun reached its peak in the sky, heatwaves across the desert sands made its course. The ground comprised of subtle slopes of sand, subject to footprints made partially visible due to the sand's tendency to fill it in. With no visible cloud in the sky, brought along with strong rays originating from the pinnacle of the deep blue sky above, two warriors felt the harsh intense light beat down on their necks. Sweat soaked the skin and drenched their clothes, and they felt the warmth channel throughout their bodies as if they're the ones being the heat source of this vast dune sea. They welcomed it in their rigorous training session, both Kento, and Ryal, standing apart from each other in a fighting stance.

Ryal first took the initiative, dashing up to Kento and effectively closing the gap between the two. He gritted his teeth as he ran, struggling to keep up a fair pace under the heavy weights he wore on his body. Kento on the other hand, stood still and prepared, capable enough of tracking his opponent's moves given his handicaps. Within the next short moment, Ryal had already thrown the first punch. The shorter individual responded with a well-placed block with the forearm, parrying it to the side to reveal the taller man's strained face from just throwing the single punch. Kento quickly reacted with a high side kick directed to the gut. Ryal barely managed to bring his elbow down on the calf while turning his hips away from the kick, only suffering a glancing blow while repealing his kick immediately as it made contact. With his elbow already in place, Ryal closed the space between them more while raising his arm and thrusting it towards Kento's nose. The smaller man quickly caught it with both of his hands, grabbing hold of his arm as he retaliated by leaping up and launching a two-foot kick directed at the face. Knowing he couldn't block this attack, Ryal shifted his head back to avoid the blow completely, enabling the smaller fighter to complete a backflip. Once Kento landed, Ryal threw a right legged roundhouse kick to the side of his head, effectively knocking him back several feet and losing contact with the arm.

Ryal dashed forward to close the distance once again, only to see the agile foe bounce off the ground with a single hand, and land onto his two feet before leaping forward, gliding along the surface of the sand. Ryal immediately stopped and rose his guard, blocking the straight punch directed towards the head completely. However, Kento anticipated this and followed up with an uppercut to the midsection, causing Ryal to double over slightly and become vulnerable to another attack. Kento seized the opportunity for another strike by bringing up his left leg for a front kick to the chin, only for Ryal to zip his head a few inches to the side and bring up his arms to catch his leg, and allowing the foot to rest on the tall man's shoulder. Kento gritted his teeth and decided to bring his other leg up, aiming to knee him in the gut. The blond lad caught it with his two palms, however, before retracting one arm and leading in with a punch directly to Kento's chest, sending him flying far back with the wind knocked out of the smaller combatant.

Kento's back skidded across the rough terrain for the next few seconds, before being partially dug into the side of a dune by the sheer force of the blow. He groaned a bit, feeling the tightness in his chest from having endured the attack. From the sidelines, he noticed his instructor Kuro watching from the shade. While in front of him, Ryal waited for him to dig himself out and continue the sparring session they've been doing for a couple of hours now. This repetition grew on him fast, and quickly he knew what kind of feeling it was to be gutted and tossed around. Quite frankly, it became increasingly exhilarating, and when dragged out for long periods of time, nothing more than the body typically enduring more so he can feel a tremendous pain the next morning.

"Your time is up!" Kuro barked from the distance, allowing Kento to relax his shoulders and sigh. Food became the first image that popped into his mind, along with rest as a secondary. A feeling of relief swept over his body like a paint brush and for a brief instant, the short man could enjoy being comforted inside the sand that was rolling down and covering him. For that moment there was enjoyment in just being enshrouded by sand so as long as he didn't have to move a damned muscle. There's nothing like it, ever.

"Hey man, that was a good workout," Ryal panted before Kento could even contemplate getting up. It almost felt like a disappointment for having to get off his lazy ass just to go through the grueling process of somehow extracting the drenched clothing he wore that stuck to him like glue. Regardless, he didn't want to leave his friend hanging. Kento grinned faintly and sluggishly brought his hand up to meet his.

Ryal plucked the sand-filled man out from the ground and let go, causing Kento to stumble forward a bit after being practically thrown to his feet. His eyes widened up a bit as he bent over to keep the falling sand out of his eyes. After brushing some extra loose particles out of his hair, he looked over to Ryal who had already taken off the weights. "Hell, that was something." He breathed out, still exerted from the fight just a minute ago.

"I gotta say, the whole weights idea for us to fight on even ground was a pretty smart idea. Wearing those things for such a long time really takes a toll on your arms." Ryal commented, trudging along the ground.

"I think I can eat a horse right about now, but I'll be honest, I might feel like puking just cuz' you kept gutting me." Kento stated in between heavy sighs, walking along close behind Ryal.

Ryal nodded, "I can see why."

Kento rolled his eyes, "I can feel why."

"Alright boys." Kuro boomed, approaching the two fighters and firmly placing his large paw on each of their shoulders. "I'm content with the amount of work you put into today's session, so I took the time to prep up one of my favorite meals that I'll be sharing with you."

Ryal immediately gulped at the idea of having a nice juicy steak dinner, while Kento felt his stomach grumble at the thought of having to wait for this surprise meal.

"It's been awhile since we've had some nice meals," Ryal commented, stretching his arms in the meantime.

"I got ahold of some nice T-bone steak, freshly homemade just for the three of us," Kuro exclaimed with a great big teeth grin. The blond lad had already heard enough and took off for the indoors.

"You managed to afford that?" Kento queried, tilting his head to this side.

"No, I just hunted a nice meaty cow out in the western forests," Kuro replied before turning around. "Now come! We must eat."

Kento nodded and followed without hesitation, glad to receive rest at the right time.

Inside the dining area, Ryal was already munching down on the three steaks that sat on his plate with potatoes on the side. Kuro had his plate stacked high, almost like the large Saiyan wanted to make a pole connecting to the ceiling from the table. Kento's seat remained in between the two, where he can witness both hungry men stuff themselves without any regard for decency, not that he could blame them of course. They are living a life of training and had no formal standard to live up to. Promptly, the young man sat down and grabbed his utensils, going about his well-deserved dinner in a far more humanly manner.

"Let's listen to the news." Kuro shot up, clicking a button on a clicker and turning on the television across the room. He rose the volume up a fair margin to listen in on any current events, especially in the west. They did this on some occasions, just to have a detailed briefing of what was going on in what used to be their long-lived homes. Granted, much of it was unpleasant, and Kento wasn't big on the depressing thought of what the situation is for his parents. Sadly he didn't have any way to contact them out here in the desert, and sometimes the kind of things these Arcosians did to many of these innocent people was despicable. Be it a child witnessing the very death of their guardians or the sickening sight of a man being torn straight down the middle, there was always that constant incentive feeling that rose about what the situation was in Getsus. It motivated him to keep training hard constantly, knowing that he wouldn't give into being a weak helpless man torn to shreds by the oncoming invasions. Hope for any significant retaliation still remained to be a diminishing question on whether or not they'll make a successful counter-attack. But soon it became a rarer chance, and all he could do was watch it through such a pitifully small window.

"Nothing new huh?" Ryal said with his mouth half full. Kento could tell he wasn't thrilled about it either, seeing as the same old same old just meant bad news.

"Not quite." Kuro shot up, as the news immediately focused on the city of Cevine, detailing about the escape of most refugees from Fleon.

Kento gulped down his chewed food as he caught the glance of this news, "Did it really take them that long to reach that city?"

"Yup. That city is at least ten thousand kilometers away from any settlement in Terrinosis. Turns out the world we live in is pretty damn huge." Said Kuro.

"Huh, I must've miscalculated the distance then," Kento noted to himself, figuring that he underestimated the required maps he had to cross Seadra.

"That, however, isn't such a big distance once you learn how to master your ki," Kuro stated, taking another bite out of his steak.

Kento's attention perked up, "Ki? Like energy?" He responded.

"Yeah, you've seen it. Remember my beam attacks back when I fought that girl?" Ryal spoke up.

Kento nodded, "Yeah, I know that. I'm just wondering how that applies to what Kuro is talking about."

"Ki is not just in your energy attacks; it exists in everybody. Saiyans like myself get all the great benefits. That, packed with our motivation to fight makes us such great warriors. Humans like yourself on the other hand, not so much." Kuro stated bluntly.

"Gee, thanks for reminding us," Kento replied sarcastically, not particularly thrilled to hear about why he's inherently weak due to his race.

Suddenly, Kuro slowly set aside his plate and leaned in closer to the other two enjoying their meals, locking their gazes with a hard stare, "But you two kids are like jewels. Embrace it while you can cuz' it'll mean nothing if you don't work. Too many times I've seen potential gone to waste."

Both Kento and Ryal stopped eating as the large bulky man intensified the conversation.

"Both of you have some pretty remarkable talent for your kind. You're not Saiyans, nor anything else spectacular, but you got what it takes to go out there and show those lizards who's running the show, something that I myself have been trying to do for the past eighty some odd years." He went further, expressing his seriousness over the topic.

Ryal smirked a little, "So you're admitting that you're not so great after all, huh?"

"Kid, I've been around long enough to know what it feels like for that fact to be shoved right in my face," Kuro remarked, taking a sip of his drink. "And y'know what, I'm still proud of my heritage and do my part. I'm big and strong. I make my fellow Saiyans piss themselves out of fear despite the fact that they're the most fearless creatures on the face of this planet. And yet, I'm still so far below certain people it ain't even funny. The worst part is the fact that you can easily tell who's a contender for being among the best. If you've lived as long as I have, you'll know."

Kento couldn't help but smile a bit at the thought of possessing great potential. His heart fluttered at the idea of being one among a many, considering his current process in training.

"But don't go thinking that it'll be easy goin' up the food ladder. I'll be the first one to tell you that a talented guy with no motivation is about as great as your average Joe. You gotta work hard or you're gonna get thrown under the bus. Simple as that." He continued, taking another bite out of his mountain pile of steak. Ryal and Kento remained silent as he kept speaking, listening intently.

"So you're both gonna work hard. Don't expect to win every fight. Don't slack off, and I can promise you a very good future… Now. After you two are done eating, rest up for an hour and we'll start off with some ki training. I feel like there's lots to brush up on yours, Ryal. And Kento, you're gonna learn how to harness it."

Both responded with a nod as they continued digging into their meals silently, determined to invest even more effort into their training than ever before.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** I finished the chapter months ago, but my editor didn't really catch up quickly enough. I decided to run it through several times before posting it, though. I also decided to try out Grammarly, and it's great. I'll be editing all my other chapters to make it much cleaner. Hopefully, the change is noticeable. As you can imagine, I've also finished another chapter after this one which I'll post when I feel the time is right. Anyway, enjoy the extra long read here for this chapter. Any advices on the writing or the story would be greatly appreciated.

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

The sun met the horizon towards the west. Rays of light became less visible. The orange sky gradually turned into a darker red, and later, a dark blue. Stars soon appeared in the sky as the landscape was plunged into the nighttime. Throughout this whole time, however, the sound of hammers clanking against surfaces persisted, and a large scale construction phase took place in the open landscape. The effort of these workers was no less disciplined than what could be considered robotic and constant. All across the newly constructed city made this fact apparent. Every day new buildings made its standing and shown itself above the rubble that once existed below. Along with this massive build project, a massive three sets of walls made its beginning at the perimeter of the old city borders of Fleon. It separated the landscape of fresh new buildings or demolished areas, and thick forest brush coupled with tight towering trees.

Inside a nearby pack of tall grass and twigs, a girl had observed the sky for the coming of nightfall. She kept her gaze locked on the color of space between the twinkling dots peeking above all the many trees that she felt so inclined to conceal herself in. Her eyes were sharp, scanning the walls for patrollers. Spotting a few, she slowly traveled alongside the barrier of the city, constantly looking for details and openings. Then suddenly, a thought popped into her head.

She kneeled behind a tree, forming a small ball of energy on her palm. The silent woman dug it into the grass and began making circular motions along the surface, quickly digging a hole fit for her size. Without a great deal of effort, she managed to immerse herself into the hole she dug, carefully plotting her next plan of action. Minute after minute, she crawled on through, continuously pressing onward. The girl knew she couldn't mess up here. Not now nor ever. Screwing up this tricky maneuver could devastate her chances of making it into the city unnoticed.

Within due time, she decided that she covered enough distance solely based on her own judgment. Though not very reliable, a great deal of time was invested into making it deep enough to hopefully position herself on the other side of the three walls. Just to confirm her suspicions, the girl tucked her chin in and looked down the tunnel behind her. She could barely make out the light that shone through from the other side. Confidently, she rose her ball of ki and began plowing through the dirt ceiling and into the concrete. Carefully, she carved around the dirt and created herself a fairly wide space of concrete to carve through, knowing that puncturing small holes and gradually coming through wasn't the brightest of ideas knowing that she could easily catch the attention of people inhabiting the area. In the following moment, she increased the size of her energy ball and rose it through the concrete above her, quickly illuminating the tunnel and causing a bit of noise.

Quickly, she popped her head out of the ground and scanned the area, noticing that it was darker than she expected, noticing another ceiling in the room she just dug herself in. Luckily enough, nobody was in the general vicinity, which was good enough for her. She hopped out of the tunnel and wiped the clods of dirt off her clothes. She immediately made it for the side of the room, finding an exit to the room and listening for anyone nearby.

"What the hell?" A voice spoke, muffled down by the cushioned walls. Immediately, the girl's heart skipped a beat, and she started to zip her head back and forth, looking for a quick hiding place. In a matter of seconds, she dashed behind a pile of belongings, primarily bins and boxes full of supplies.

A door opened from the opposite side of the room, shining light into the dark room and the shadow of an Arcosian appeared. From where the girl was hiding, she could see the silhouette approaching from the other side, but only briefly; the basement light was flicked on, and everything was illuminated.

"Who's here?" The thing spoke again, much clearer than it was from the other room. Footsteps emitted from the opposite side of the room, and she could tell exactly how far away the lizard-man was, presumingly searching for where she was.

"You're in here somewhere. I know it. Show yourself." The lizard demanded, digging around through various boxes and possessions. The girl then pulled out an apple, taking a deep bite into it, making sure the sound was very apparent and revealing where she was.

The Arcosian zipped his head around to the direction of the sound, and just as his eyes locked on the pile of bins, a Saiyan girl slowly marched out from behind it, carrying an apple in one hand while holding a glaring look towards the Icean foot soldier.

"A Saiyan, eh? You should've stayed out, stupid girl." The Arcosian troop shot coldly, raising a finger and pointing it at the Saiyan. "Look at the mess you made on the floor. Typical, uncivilized monkey."

"My name is Sheryl, thank you very much." She retorted, taking another bite out of her apple, prompting the other to initiate the first move. The Arcosian gritted his teeth and fired a purple laser directly out of the index finger, aimed towards the girl's heart. Immediately, however, Sheryl brought up her free hand in a blur and flicked away the death beam before closing the distance on a whim. She grabbed hold of the lizard's finger and snapped it back, causing a sound similar to the snap of a twig. Before the Arcosian could even attempt to display his agony, his face met with an immediate elbow straight to the nose, snapping his head back and smashing into the wall behind him. The foundation of the building began to crumble just by the impact itself, and dust fell from certain parts of the room. Lastly, Sheryl rose her right arm and pummeled him in the stomach before kicking him in the chin, practically digging his skull into the wall deeper, upsetting the building foundation even more. Surprisingly, she knocked him out cold. Content with this, she exited the room and headed towards the outdoors.

Sheryl noticed the many windows in the room she entered. Taking advantage of this, she quickly approached the window and scanned the environment, finding an empty street without a soul in sight. The only detail she could make out was the city walls just nearby, which had patrolman pacing up and down the perimeter of it.

Unclear voices quickly arose from her left, indicating the approach of more foot soldiers heading her way. With a slight of hand, she pulled up her apple and gave it a last quick bite without attracting any attention her way. She rolled the finished apple along the floor until it reached the middle of the tile floor, moments before the front door opened. Two Arcosian soldiers stepped into the room. Meanwhile, Sheryl hid behind a nearby chair to conceal her presence just temporarily.

"Where the hell did he go?" One of the lizard-men asked.

"I dunno. He better not be up to something." The other responded just as he entered the room. The one in the front curiously took a few more steps forward before leaning down. He grabbed the bitten apple and examined it closely, eyeing it down and giving it a few sniffs.

"Didn't know he had such a strange diet. I thought human food was illegal." The one behind the examiner noted.

"Don't be ridiculous. There's someone around here."

Just as those words were spoken, muffled sounds emanated from behind the examiner. He dropped the apple and shot his head around, finding his companion trapped in a lock from an unfamiliar woman. The girl had a hand wrapped around the lizard-man's lips, while an arm was locked tightly around his shoulder to imitate a half nelson grab. Promptly, the Arcosian attempted to elbow her with his free arm, only to feel his head whip back by the control of her hand; his body fell back as the girl stepped back to commence her technique. Upon slamming him to the ground, Sheryl planted a foot onto the foot soldier's nose, forcing the tile floor below to cave in at the force of impact and cause cracks to form.

The remaining warrior brought a hand up and fired a purple beam out of the finger. Sheryl dodged it by leaning back, letting the energy attack whiz by her chest and exit through the window behind her. Soon afterward, the beam met with a building on the other side of the street. A large, thunderous explosion followed.

For a brief moment, the Saiyan glanced towards the abrupt phenomenon that occurred just then. She sighed, suddenly realizing what this may have cost her. It's no rocket science that every single one in the area is now out for her, and her chances of keeping the wind off her tail now remain thin. Sheryl shot her gaze back to the Arcosian, appearing much closer than she anticipated. To her dismay, his fist connected with her cheek, forcing her out of the building and into the smoldering rubble under the dry dust cloud kicked up from the previous explosion. Her back dug into the severed blocks of cement, crushing them into little bits by the sheer force of her landing. The girl immediately felt dust particles entering her eyes, incentivising her to shut her eyes. She leaned up on one elbow, wheezing and coughing. Eventually, she rolled onto all fours and began to bring her foot forward, only to be pinned against the ground once again. She let out a soft, quick groan as she felt the bottom of the Arcosian's foot placed firmly onto her back.

"You're not going anywhere." The lizard-man stated firmly, pressing down onto Sheryl with strong intent.

The Saiyan winced in pain, tensing up her body to resist the force with no avail. Slowly, she planted her palms down onto the surface and positioned herself into a push-up position. Gritting her teeth, she pushed as hard as she could, grunting and utilizing every ounce of her will and body into the action. Despite her lack of belief, she found herself inching away from the crumbled ground. She smiled out of sheer pride, and with a quick maneuver she twisted her body to let the awestruck Arcosian's foot slide down into the ground. She lifted one arm off the ground and brought her knees close to her chest, before launching a side kick towards to the Arcosian's chest, sending him flying into the air. She then hopped back to her feet, witnessing three more landing just across from the street. A smile crept upon her face. She never intended this. She wanted a subtle approach and a good general knowledge of the area she was going to. But if an all out battle is to ensure upon arrival, then so be it.

"What're you all looking at?" She said, before witnessing the Arcosian from earlier stumble out of the building she was recently punched out of.

"You have one chance to decide this. Stand down or be killed." One announced from the other end of the street.

Sheryl let out a chuckle, "Yeah, really? I wanna see how many of you soulless lizard creeps I can take on."

Without hesitation, each of the foot soldiers fired their own individual beams aimed towards her. She knew this was going to happen. As a result, the Saiyan dashed forward in between the purple lasers and quickly secured herself behind the unsuspecting Arcosians, preoccupied with concentrating their energy forward. She could tell clearly that she was on an entirely different level than these guys; they couldn't help track her movements. Even their techniques, designed to be fast and deadly appeared in slow motion.

As the explosion made its appearance, Sheryl connected an uppercut to the midsection of an oblivious Arcosian, who's back arched upon that instant. She finished it off with a solid front kick to the upper back, tossing the foot soldier across the street and into another building. She immediately followed up onto another Arcosian with a high knee to the side of the head, knocking him back into another Arcosian and toppling him over.

The last Arcosian had at last reacted to her sudden flank on the foot soldiers, charging straight in for a physical attack. Sheryl responded with her palm facing the incoming foe, launching a yellow energy wave. It pushed the Arcosian backward down the street, before reaching a distant intersection where more buildings were subject to explosions of energy attacks.

Suddenly, Sheryl felt a fist connect to the back of her skull, jolting her head forward and causing her to stumble forward. As fast as she could, she turned around to see the Arcosian who punched her out of the house earlier, following up with several more punches and kicks. Sheryl parried them away with relative ease while orientating herself after what could've resulted in a knockout. Once her vision became clearer, she found an opening and ducked under a single punch, throwing a rapid succession of her own jabs before decisively ending the combo with a powerful blow to the foot soldier's chin, effectively putting him out of commission.

"Serves you right." She muttered under her breath, before turning to the other two Arcosians who were once toppled over each other. Without much thought, she fired an energy beam between the two, enough to preoccupy them for some time. She looked down the street and witnessed several more incoming foot soldiers, as well as the few that were flying over the buildings and from the city border wall on the opposite side. At this point, sticking around would be suicide.

Sheryl widened her stance and tucked her arms into her chest, positioned with the forearms crossing at the center of the body. With a swift motion, she gathered her energy and released it all once, opening her arms wide and puffing her chest out. A blinding light surrounded her, and the surrounding area was suddenly enveloped in a field of an expanding, destructive energy. Buildings and paved roads were demolished upon being sucked into the dome of death that grew in size. A few Arcosians that neared the girl didn't have the fastest reaction and were completely dissipated inside the explosive wave. The rest immediately halted and headed the other way, fleeing from the attack.

Sheryl took a knee at the moment of her attack's finish, inhaling and exhaling heavily after investing that large sum of ki. However, she knew full well that the explosion wasn't intended to fight her foes, but rather blow up a smokescreen and create a distraction for her to get out unnoticed.

Before a single moment could pass by, purple lasers began whizzing by from behind the smoke. Sheryl ducked her head and quickly searched for an exit, spending as little time possible to analyze the situation. She dashed towards one end of the street, quickly finding narrow alleyways and dashing through them. Sheryl didn't stop for a single moment and kept on moving along whatever relatively covered area she could find.

Sheryl came across a back door to a silent, dark building neighboring ones to its side and back fairly closely. The young Saiyan halted beside it, slowly turning the doorknob to avoid causing any disturbances. Walking in, the room was dark and empty, vacant of anyone around and absent of any furniture or anything. She shut the door behind her and settled down next to a wall. She felt the cold hard feeling on her back as she rested against it, letting her legs give away and sink down onto the concrete floor. A few sighs of relief and relaxation soon left her lips once she found herself secured into a safe spot, away from her enemy. Now she knew what had swept over this nation that once prospered, and how that must've gone with the many that used to live where she rested at that moment. Sheryl slowly closed her eyes, releasing her explorative thoughts from the cage of her disciplined focus and heightened senses. She is now one step closer to initiating her goal to be a mercenary, all the while intent on persisting her unorthodox method of training.

 **. . .**

Marvin strolled up the sidewalk in the downtown area, full of passengers and traffic flow. Intersections were as busy as they could be, and down each block presented another store locked together with other businesses next to it. The area was completely packed; navigating through the street was a challenge in of itself. Marvin almost felt an incentive to fly because of it, but he had to keep things civilized and away from public attraction. Typically, a person that flew around would be seen as a threat in most cases, since Saiyan attacks happened on the occasion. Deliberately catching this kind of attention was unwanted, and flying was only to be used for emergencies out in this city. He didn't like it. It's pretty distasteful. Nonetheless, he couldn't argue against it.

The man came across a common coffee shop at the corner of an intersection, pushing the door open and hopping into the back of the lineup. Before long he received his order; it was a black coffee with two teaspoons of sugar for a fairly affordable price, which he can buy without regret. The man in the trench coat spotted his co-workers sitting at a table up against the window, prompting him to walk over to the two before taking his seat.

"Howdy." Marvin greeted, setting down his drink and sliding in next to Garmogin.

"Hello sir." Both Garmogin and Saite replied in unison.

"Y'know, the two of you could've picked a better spot to meet up. I expect better of my underlings." Marvin commented.

"I apologize, sir," Saite spoke up.

"Cut the 'sir' and 'apologise' crap for now. You're off the hook with the whole food shenanigan. We have more important businesses to cover." Marvin snapped, taking a short sip of his coffee while composing his thoughts. "I want to know about the progress on the interrogations you two have been having."

"We managed to get the one to comply immediately, even going so far as to be willing to lend us some information. The other one won't budge despite all the effort and torture we ran him through." Saite reported.

"Alright, good. We got an information guy. Is the resilient one still alive?"

"Yes."

"We're executing him then. We have no need for worthless prisoners who won't tell us anything." Marvin asserted, before turning to Garmogin. "You. Have you secured all of the refugees in a safe spot?"

The Saiyan nodded, "Yes. It's now in the hands of the government to take care of."

"Good enough for me. Now, time we head off to the interrogation area. Where is it currently?" Marvin asked.

"Follow me." Garmogin insisted before getting up. He crushed the paper coffee cup in his one hand before throwing it away on the way out, followed by Saite and Marvin.

For the next several minutes, Garmogin led the way for the other two, creating a large enough space behind him to allow an ease of traveling for the other two. This continued for a lengthy amount of time, and gradually the number of pedestrians was reduced by a substantial amount, giving them room to walk side by side rather than a straight line.

"Talk about a downtown area. Let's never go back there again." Marvin piped up.

"Agreed. Admittedly, we did pick this location because of its relative distance towards the interrogation area, though." Garmogin stated.

"You mean out close to the most populated area of the city?" Said Marvin.

"It can only be accessed in a back alleyway. Some of the rich people at the palace know about shady areas of town pretty well."

"I hope so. I wouldn't like to tangle around with bloody law enforcement. That always has its issues." Marvin replied, digging his hands into his coat pockets. "Also, how'd you managed to sneak in bodies all the way out here in this populated area?"

"We shoved them in cardboard boxes and carried them in." Saite butted in.

Marvin shrugged, "That works."

"Here we are," Garmogin announced, approaching a narrow passageway accessible from the sidewalk. He took a turn and walked down it and approached a door at the very back corner of the building. The doorway immediately led down a few stairs steps into a basement, most likely used as a storage area. The three made their way down the steps, discovering a single, low-ceiling room with another door leading upstairs that was completely blocked off by storage items. In the middle of the room sat two of the Arcosian prisoners, both appearing to be sleeping at this particular time.

"So which one is resistant?" Marvin demanded, immediately waking up the two lizard-men. Garmogin pointed to one who sat to the left, and without hesitation, the man walked over and retracted an arm back. He shot the hand forward, slicing right through the neck of the Arcosian, causing decapitation. The head rolled along the floor, and blood spat everywhere from the open wound. After mercilessly killing him, Marvin kicked the dead Arcosian tied to the chair towards the edge of the room, allowing the blood to build up somewhere else instead of where it would bother him and the others.

The remaining Arcosian's face expression immediately expressed fear, completely at a loss for words at how ruthless that action was. He couldn't help but turn his head to what was left of his supposed 'companion' after the being subject to execution appearing out of the blue.

"Don't worry about it. Most of your kind already lost their minds long ago. What matters here right now is you." The man in the trench coat stated, taking a chair from the corner of the room and setting it down in front of the tied up lizard-man. He then sat down on it backward while facing the Arcosian, resting his forearms on the chair's top rail to make himself comfortable. "I heard you've got a lot of stories. So tell us. We know you still have your sanity. Don't try to hide it."

The ex-soldier's eyes trailed off, blinking a few times as seconds ticked by. As far as Marvin could tell, a lot was going through his head. Going off by this, the investigator decided to give him time to recollect his thoughts. After all, this is his best chance at gathering any significantly important details.

"You won't kill me, right?" The Arcosian asked.

"Nobody here is gonna kill you," Marvin reassured.

"I've been really unsure about this myself. I just wanted to leave that living hell. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has completely transformed. We all thought this whole new uprising was a good thing, for all of us. We were wrong. We were sheep. It just shows how weak we really are when compared to our king, and our leaders. They controlled us…" He trailed off.

"He's becoming highly unclear," Saite commented, crossing his arms as Marvin tried listening intently.

"I-I'm sorry." The hostage stuttered, immediately caught off of his rambling.

"Let's start with how this whole thing started. Describe to me your life prior to this uprising" Marvin questioned.

"Things were fine. Myself and some others were becoming educated in the sciences and pursuing a simple job to serve our king. Back then, people either worked around to gather food in the oceans or get an education to perform some of the more manage-related duties. We often lived out in smaller towns and villages, but that quickly changed when the new king rose to power. Soon we migrated to a few settlements which quickly turned into cities. Our lifestyles changed drastically, and the king held a lot of power over us. Nobody disobeyed for the time, though, before word of a rebellion popped up. It didn't take long for the king to act, though, as he must've sent out some people to go execute the founder of this uprising, and soon afterward he enforced even stricter regulations. They told us exactly what our jobs were, they monitored our lives, and forced us to take these 'special medication' pills that did nothing but brainwash everyone into believing the rhetoric they spewed through this mass communication technology they called 'the internet'. Technology advanced incredibly fast in this period of time, and soon enough, many of us were drafted to train up for several months before being sent down south to conquer the humans."

"So you're telling us that your king managed to exercise enough power over the state and assign each and every citizen with this so-called brainwashing pill to enforce all of their will onto the people." Marvin clarified.

"That explains the outstanding discipline amongst their ranks," Garmogin added.

The Arcosian nodded, "Just about everyone I knew and interacted with lost all of their personality. I can't tell anyone apart and all I could do was play along."

"Explain to me how you managed to dodge taking this pill," Marvin asked.

"The camera and sound recorder they put in my apartment happened to not be functioning properly. I took advantage of this by swapping out a year's worth supply of pills with some old candy I kept hidden in my luggage when I was forced out of my village. I got lucky for one day to do this before some technicians came in and fixed it all."

Marvin chuckled, "So you're lucky, huh? Go figure."

"Eventually you guys caught me in the middle of a fight, and of course I wasn't any match for you. Didn't think it ended up being a good thing after all." The Arcosian sighed.

"So about those four generals you mentioned way back. Didn't you say they were the leaders of your nation?" Marvin brought up.

"Partially, yeah. They technically control everyone and come to terms with the king that was elected years ago. As far as we're concerned, we have five leaders. One organizes the nation while the generals command an army of their own to do their bidding out in this conquest. The king doesn't seem to have power over them, but rather he appointed people he trusts to conquer land for their own and establish new nations over top the ones that already existed. The king said this will fix all of the divide between the west and east and unify the entire world under one single state with governing provinces. I forget about the rest of the details, but that's just it I think." The Arcosian explained.

"I've heard enough for now," Marvin announced, getting off his chair and untying the ki-nullifying rope that tied him to the chair. As he released it, the Arcosian took a sigh of relief, content to feel his strength come back to him.

"So what are we gonna do with him?" Saite asked.

"We'll take him to the association headquarters. There he'll rest and expose more things about Icea and its government. In fact, Saite, you'll take him there." Marvin responded.

"Yes sir!"

"And also stuff him in a box on your way out. I don't want any suspicion or funny looks. I don't want attention."

"Copy that," Saite responded, immediately going right into the job.

"Don't tell me I'm going to be forced to curl up the whole ride." The Arcosian complained.

"Only until we're away from the city walls. I can let you out then." Saite stated, grabbing a cardboard box just as he said so. "Get in."

The Arcosian complied to the demand just as he gave his beheaded companion a last look. Unfortunately, he happened to have been one of his long time friends, already completely stripped of what he was before his life was finally put to a finish. Strangely enough, that kind of death amounted to be worthy of praise in comparison to what became of all the Iceans.

The lizard-man crawled into the box before Saite closed it completely and threw it over his shoulder, "Time to go."

The Saiyan man left without another word, leaving only Marvin and Garmogin left in the basement room.

"Well, I gotta take care of my own thing. It's about time I got started on finding some valuable fighters across the world to help out on this issue. But first, I'm gonna be working on getting a group of diggers and archaeologists to do some work for me." Said Marvin.

"Why's that?" Garmogin asked.

"This thing," Marvin answered, grabbing a ring out of his pocket and displaying it between his fingers. "According to one of my ol' buddies, this thing could potentially help us. So, I'll hire a bunch of people to go give me answers while I have you help me do some other important things."

Garmogin nodded, "Yes sir."

 **. . .**

"Sir, we have brought them here."

Tanscontine opened an eye, shifting his head slightly from having rested on his palm. He leaned up and fixated a professional posture as his messenger delivered the news. A smile crept onto his lips, and he brushed his fingers gently along the gold-plated surface of his armrest. The voice of his subordinate had echoed off the detailed walls and tile floor and gave sense to the size of the room they were currently present in. Tanscontine waved away the soldier with a thought in mind, planning his next move.

"Hold on, soldier." Tanscontine quickly spoke up, causing his subordinate to halt immediately. He turned around and bowed before the ruler, waiting for his next orders. "Prepare a camera crew for this instance. We will mark this one in the history books."

"Yes sir." The soldier replied, standing up straight and exiting the throne room. Tanscontine leaned back and closed his eyes once again, enveloping himself with thoughts of excitement. Within a few moments, he was about to broadcast to the world just how powerful he really was. Undoubtedly, inhabitants across the face of the globe will familiarize themselves with his name and just what kind of threat he will pose to their current way of life. The Arcosian leader's smile grew even more. He could conceive himself controlling the west with the enemy's forces on the brink of meltdown and the rest of the world trembling behind their pitiful defenses and lack of military prowess. While he, grand general of the first themata was just one monumental force among a few under the rule of the great king that sat at the north pole. All the progress they made in advancing towards their goal was an ideal success, and already they achieved such phenomenal power that nobody can compete at this point in time. In their current state, they control most, if not all the territories containing the greatest technologies, equipped to some of the most elite soldiers ever around. With significant advantages in the vast majority of categories, it was time they make their existence truly public, with no fog to cover their images. Instead, Tanscontine shall appear as a figurehead in this campaign. Submit or be slain. This message shall be spread in a concise manner.

A knock soon followed as the other soldier went, and with a roll of the eyes, Tanscontine spoke, "What is it?"

"Sir," the soldier began entering the throne room and quickly bowing. "The terrorist has returned, and is causing a great disturbance to our reconstruction of the city."

"Ridiculous. You've been trying to deal with it yourselves for days now and it all results in our mighty structures crumbling and your rations stolen," he spat, gritting his teeth at the low-class soldier.

"M-my apologies sir! We will send our best reinforcements to deal with the issue at hand…"

"Nonsense! You come here to report me about this matter and yet take it upon yourself to deal with this trash? Pitiful! All you will do is to find the camera crew and put the monkey on broadcast. Understood?" Tanscontine ordered.

"Yes sir." The soldier answered with a salute, exiting the room immediately. Tanscontine sighed and made a quick change of plans. This Saiyan girl has been wreaking havoc around the city for some time now, and he hasn't identified the reason for this at all.

A few minutes have passed, and the messenger returns to the throne room with a bow, "Sir, we have prepared the camera crew for your personal use."

"Excellent. I just need a broadcast for myself, the hostages and the girl. Hack into one of the major news networks and get me set up as soon as possible." Tanscontine insisted.

Moments later, cameras were set up in their designated spots, and Tanscontine didn't move even move an inch. He remained patient as his engineers performed their duties, and soon came the time for him to make his appearance in the world of politics.

"Whenever you're ready, sir." One of the Arcosian soldiers informed, bringing the general to open his eyes and straighten his posture on the throne.

"I am ready."

 **. . .**

"Boys! Come quick!"

Upon hearing the large man's voice, Kento and Ryal rushed inside the house, dropping their weights and coming to the attention of their master.

"What is it?" Kento asked, before catching a glance of the news broadcast, which was experiencing some interruptions. Soon, the screen became cleaner and showed the face of a rather large being, eerily similar to that of an Arcosian. Ryal quickly noticed this too, expressing a confused look with a raised eyebrow.

"It's their leader," Kuro stated, paying close attention to the television. Neither of the two spoke a single word, expressing their full, undivided attention to the stream.

"Hello inhabitants of Glamea; those of the east, or the ones that dwell in the great deserts of Seadra or those who live under a pile of debris if you happen to be in the west. I am broadcasting from the former settlement of Fleon, now being rebuilt and renamed to the city of Tanscontinoplis. As you may ask, I named it after myself; the great and mighty general Tanscontine the first. I spread this message to you from across the globe to ensure you inevitable knowledge of your fate, as I possess the substantiated power to do as I please. If your thoughts lead you to think otherwise, here lies many of the west's world leaders whose life hangs on the strings that I possess." The lizard greeted before the broadcast switches to a shot of a handful of tied up people hung from the ceiling in chains. Kento's eyes widen at the sight of the politicians held captive by these Arcosians.

"You know now that my powers lack boundaries, so you better listen carefully and comprehend this message. Wherever you may be, you will one day live under our rule. Now some of you may be disappointed, which is a matter I don't particularly care about, but you better not think of revolting when the time happens. If you dare defy us, the result is cut, clear and consistent; you will die. Allow me to show you an example."

The broadcast switched to a different scene, one displaying the reconstruction of the city that was once Fleon. It zoomed in on a brawl that was occurring at the moment. It showed a fight between several Arcosian troops versus a Saiyan female.

"Wait, is that…" Kento began, looking at the screen closely.

"It's the girl we met just a month ago," Ryal noted.

"What is she doing there? Why would she go there?" Kento asked, scratching his head.

"Typical young Saiyans always itch for a fight, especially if there was a benefit from it. In her case, she probably knows that there are virtually unlimited resources and food she can steal from those troops unlike the scarcity here in Seadra." Kuro explained, rubbing his chin.

"You may have figured by now that this is a typical runt, thinking she could get away with terrorizing our forces like this. However, before you dare contemplate committing such atrocities to our forces, great consequences will be paid. Here, you will see in live action the result of defying us." Tanscontine continued, before exiting his throne room. The broadcast became silent for a moment or two, leaving the viewers to see nothing in particular, in sort of an awkward pause brought about the unprofessional nature of the hacked in livestream.

Without warning, Tanscontine appeared on the television screen from a distance. There was no commentary, only the scene being displayed from a distance. In a flash, the girl had taken a strike that the footage couldn't record properly as the frames were too slow to register the fact that he had punched the Saiyan in the belly. She doubled over, and Tanscontine picked up the limp body off the ground and carried it to the room of the hostages. A brief moment passed in silence, and the broadcast eventually switched to where the world leaders were hanging off the ceiling.

"My apologies for the small delay, but as you can see, even the mightiest of warriors that can tear through our soldiers will find themselves incapable of holding a candle to my might." He stated, dropping the girl onto the ground. He gestured a bunch of his subordinates to pick up the body and take it somewhere else. "Now I like to consider myself a merciful ruler, so I will make a proposal. I will allow this war of the west to halt if the rest of the world submits to our rule peacefully. The deal is, you will suffer no war if you simply accept us as the real leaders. However, if this isn't the case, I will kill off these hostages day by day. And soon enough, I will take it upon myself to destroy a city of yours to my liking. If you still resist, I will be inclined in wiping out every resident of your country. That is all." Tanscontine said, before the broadcast ended and returns to the original news outlet.

"Well boys," Kuro began, catching glance of his two pupils. "There is only so much time we have to train you two before things get hairy."

"So they're gonna kill her, huh?" Kento said with a slight frown, similar to every reaction he has to any breaking news regarding the whole scheme in the west.

"You sound kind of disappointed." Ryal pointed out.

"Yeah, but, it's all happening so fast. I dunno what to really think at this point." Kento replied, leaning down on the chair and resting his arms on a pillow on his chest.

"And the first thing on your mind is the well-being of the one that kidnapped you? You're weird." Ryal stated flatly.

"Says the guy who jumps over buildings as a method of transportation instead of using the sidewalk." Kento retorted.

"Kento's intuition isn't something I would doubt at this very moment; the girl could prove to be a valuable asset. Given what little information we have about her, she's young and able to mop the floor with their forces. And yet, you two seemed to have encountered her before. Now let me propose a few questions." Kuro interjected, gesturing a wink towards Kento. The two trainees focused their attention to their instructor. "You, at least Ryal I assume, have fought her in battle. Am I correct?"

Ryal nodded.

"And neither of you are killed or enslaved, correct?"

Kento and Ryal nod, obviously incapable of denying such a fact.

"So she's out there wiping out dozens of their soldiers, and I would find it extremely hard to believe that even now, either of you would be capable of holding a candle to her current strength. So here's my last question. Did you, Ryal, defeat her? And if you did, what was the result?"

Ryal nodded once again, "We had a couple of bouts, but I ended up winning the second one narrowly."

"Narrowly? She couldn't even move afterward, dude." Kento quickly mentioned.

Ryal turned towards Kento, "Yeah, but that's only because it was her fault that she didn't know how my attack worked."

"Fair enough. She was essentially paralyzed after the fight and I assume she was heavily injured?" Kuro asked.

"Yes." Ryal and Kento answered in unison, turning both of their attention back to Kuro.

A smile formed on Kuro's face, "That's just about all I need to know. She lost and must've tapped into her zenkai ability. If she gained that much strength from just a single loss, then her potential must be incredibly high." Kuro concluded, rubbing his chin with a smirk.

Immediately, Ryal began reflecting upon the time when he fought the Arcosian, a battle where they were more or less even. In fact, he may have been at a slight disadvantage power-wise. Knowing this, and seeing Sheryl effortlessly cast away pretty much every foot soldier that approached her, the gap in their power was without a doubt, spacious.

Kento sighed, "Why am I not surprised at hearing another stupid ability that Saiyans have that just make them so much better than everyone else?"

Kuro shrugged, "Saiyans are a warrior race, though I will admit that it's merely a biological thing in common with pretty much every other species. It's just strongest for us as we've evolved to adapt well to physical hardships and deal with it head-on. However, it's only this effective with the kind of Saiyans with enormous potential. I hardly gained any significant power when I was recovering from near-death experiences."

"Are we going to continue our ki training?" Kento asked, seeing all of the news outlets go crazy on what was just broadcasted all over the world. For once, he didn't want to invest his time into more politics. Most of it was becoming bitter and whether or not he was up to date with everything really won't change a thing if he wasn't prepared to fight.

"Yeah, go stretch outside. I'll meet you out in a few." Kuro responded before Kento and Ryal got off their seats and headed for the door. However, while Ryal was the first to exit the door, Kento felt a large paw grab hold of his shoulder, preventing him from walking forward without a great deal of effort. He knew his master was going to tell himself something private at that very moment, so he simply froze in place.

Once Ryal was gone, Kuro had let go of Kento's shoulder. The short man turned around and open his mouth, only to see his instructor be the first to open his.

"Be honest kid. You like her." Kuro asserted.

"I do not!" Kento protested, forcing a glare towards Kuro while hiding an uncontrollable gushing of red in his cheeks.

"Y'know, half-breeds are an incredibly rare sight. In fact, there's just something about the two races that don't seem to go well together. Regardless, it's a well-known historical fact that half-breeds generally have the highest potential out of any recorded species in the entire world, and yet nobody seems to ever want to step out of their comfort zone." Kuro noted.

"Are you seriously…?" Kento stammered, struggling to find a quick escape to this undesirable situation of all social things he generally wasn't fond of.

"Besides, it won't be long before you'll see her again. Just give it some thought." Kuro chuckled, before letting go of Kento.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't worry about it. I have a plan." Kuro ended off before walking over to the phone, punching in numbers on the gigantic thing that appeared completely out of date. Kento simply shook his head and dispelled whatever thought that entered his mind at that moment, and immediately focused on training-related matters.

 **. . .**

Within a dark enclosed room, dimly lit by one end with a fluctuating blue light emanating from a single monitor screen, Marvin sat resting an elbow on the armrest with the opposite hand dragging the mouse around. Only recently was he able to keep in check with the various messages sent around from the planetary web of information, or 'internet' they called it. Having some form of reputation, and a status of significance and reliance within the association, the sheer fact that his long term absence from any sort of connection to the world web made it an almost unnerving certainty that he'll be sitting on his ass for awhile, and it'll likely devoid him of any sleep if he wanted to be plow through it all. His guesses were correct; his inbox looked like a scroll unraveling itself everlastingly. What a boring sight it was, to witness the slow-moving download speed load up all of the crap that was sent his way, and upon opening up a single letter, all he would set his eyes upon are monotonous walls of poor font-styled text. Just to add to the shrinking feeling in his chest—if such a thing was even conceivable in that moment—Marvin narrowed his dry eyes at the scroll bar on the right resembling the current state of his sanity; it continuously shrank like a dissolvent inside a glass of water, indicating the absurd length of the document. The tired man tilted his head to the side and momentarily stared in awe at its immense ludicrousy.

In that exact moment, the device on the table next to him sounded off a disturbing ring, like adding the final cherry on top of a cake over-decorated in treats and inflated with icing. In the normal state of mind, the busy man would've crushed the phone to pieces small enough to be unobservable through a microscope and with his hand, instigate a gaping hole into the wretched light source centered directly in front of his eyes before neglecting his association with anything with a processor in it for all eternity. However, his poor mind could only ponder and remain calm simply because anger refused to approach the next task in mind when there were still numerous processes going off in his brain, trying to grasp the unbelievable things set for him. In the most empty and robotic fashion, Marvin reached for the phone and clicked the button, holding it gently to his ear, prepared for anything worse to possibly come.

"Hello?"

"Yo, didn't you get my emails?"

Delightfully, the voice sounded familiar enough to touch upon a soft spot in his heart. Excitement immediately grew where a shiny platinum pedestal rose from the raw and lifeless desert of sorrowful sands. Marvin rose his eyebrows and suddenly felt awake again, finding a quick interest in engaging in this conversation he will most certainly find intriguing.

"Nope. Been too long since I found a damn piece of tech in this place and only now am I reading them all." Marvin responded, planting his feet up onto his desk.

"Did you happen to catch the news?"

"Nope."

"Take a moment to watch it right now. It was on broadcast."

Marvin sighed and wedged the phone between his ear and shoulder before reaching forward for the keyboard and mouse. He quickly popped up a record of the recent broadcast that inevitably blew up all over the web and hit a link that seemed promising enough. "So what's this shit all about? The Arcosians hacked in and presented some awfully delivered message?"

"Just watch it." The caller repeated.

"Alright alright, I'll watch it," Marvin replied while rolling his eyes, before laying eyes on one of the Arcosian leaders seconds later. He reacted with his jaw hung open and eyes held wide. He silently listened to the brief thing, only lasting for a few minutes at best without a single word to express. He paused it at the end, where the stream cut off and lead back to the regular news station.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me," Marvin mumbled over the phone, shaking his head at the fact that he has to re-plan literally everything.

"Bloody stupid lizards think they can walk over us without a damned fight. Big woop. He punched a girl on TV and thinks it's convincing enough for other nations to stand down. One hell of an act of diplomacy if you ask me." The caller commented sarcastically.

"That's not even the worst part. I have these goddamn errands I gotta do and I need to hire some mercs for the job I need to do. Now most possible candidates I could find will probably ship themselves to war under some other leader that may or may not be competent to deal with this situation considering the laughable gap in technological advancements and lack of decent generals nowadays. If only I could grab onto some decent picks and make the best use of them." Marvin vented.

"Well go figure Marvin. One was just shown to you from the broadcast."

"What?" Marvin responded, narrowing his eyes and tilting his head a bit sideways. "Wait, you mean the chick?"

"Absolutely. I bet my house on that girl's potential. If you decide to free her, she'll make for an outstanding mercenary."

Marvin looked up at the ceiling and froze, pondering on the thought of risking his life over it, or perhaps that of his subordinate. It makes no difference. The question was whether or not it was worth the effort.

"You're old, and wise, obviously. I've trusted your judgment most of the time. And even in times where I doubted it, you've still shown your merit at making decisions. Y'know what, I think I'll go by your word. You seem to know your stuff pretty well, even though you're easily mistaken to be a fool living in a garbage shack. And yeah, it ain't much for you to bet that." Marvin joked with a bit of a laugh along well as the caller.

"You know for a damn fact that my place is worth every dime for the amount of hours I put into building it." The caller said.

"So? You can afford to lose the bet. Walk into any store and everything you need to intimidate the sellers for a successful robbery is the size of your arms." Marvin replied.

"Come on. A Saiyan has a sense of dignity and self-importance. I don't stoop down to the level of all those young savages these days."

Marvin chuckled a bit along with his old friend, "Look, dude, I gotta get to work. I'll be sure to send my subordinate over and do the job. And you better be right about this, but you can keep your stupid hut just in case you're wrong."

"How kind of you, human. Don't forget to read my emails. There's some important stuff you gotta know about but I don't have the time to be messin' around with telling you that stuff."

"I'll get to it. Just take care, Kuro." He ended before forcefully ending the conversation by hanging up the phone. His mood had completely swung towards the other direction; he felt urgent and quick-minded. Knowing how much time he may have, it's mandatory that he should get things done at this time, as it could mean literally everything in the upcoming wars that'll inevitably come even though it was already a practical given. He just didn't expect it this early.

"Garmogin!" Marvin called before a door opened upon command.

"Yes sir?" Garmogin responded.

"Did you watch the broadcast?" Marvin asked.

"Yes sir."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Marvin interrogated, before a very brief pause occurred. Garmogin immediately found it difficult to form a response, however, Marvin quickly cut off whatever he was about to say.

"Don't worry about it. Just go rescue the girl that was on the broadcast. Oh, and do it under a low profile, which means I'll punish you if you're seen by any of the Arcosians. Understood?"

"Yes sir," Garmogin answered before dashing off. Marvin turned towards his computer monitor and began to approach his emails once again, this time with a bit of determination.

 **. . .**

Kento squinted his eyes as he entered the outdoors, wherein the sun's glare made its strong presence in the setting and the feeling of sand particles on the bottom of his feet remained too familiar and homelike. The young man glanced over to Ryal, who was simply gathering his ki and surfacing it beyond the layers of his skin, allowing it to be visible to the naked eye. He simply waved to the blond man, who waved back in response and shot him a grin.

"Hey! What took you so long?" Ryal asked.

"Nothing really. I just forgot an errand I had to do." Kento lied, scratching the back of his head as he distanced himself from the house and approached his companion.

Ryal simply shrugged, "Alright. Let's just fire some ki attacks at each other then."

Kento stumbled back upon hearing the words enter his eardrums, "What?"

"I was just thinking about it. If we're gonna learn how to use ki effectively, we might as well learn for ourselves the danger it causes and create ways to counter it. Sorta like adding a competitive thing to it," he explained briefly.

"I've barely developed my ability to harness this energy thing and yet you expect me to play a life or death version of dodgeball? No thanks." Kento stated.

Ryal rose a hand regardless of Kento's protests, and slowly the flow of his aura began to circulate down his arm and around his hand. The shorter man stared at his companion in confusion and fear, unprepared and ill in his confidence to jump into such a dangerous activity. With his words gone to deaf ears and his safety put to question, Kento could only feel the beat of his heart rise to a new height.

"Don't you go ignoring my words too…" Kento whined, feeling his arms begin to shake. He still hasn't dealt with his issue of fear to the extent that he would like to. Perhaps he could view this as some practice and improve his courage? Well, as beneficial it would be and how trivial the situation is considering this was his friend he's dealing with, who by all means was still completely in his mind, there still was the part of his mind that kept pushing forth these questions regarding the legitimacy of Ryal's statement and his ability to control energy. What if he couldn't control it and released too much energy? Would he simply vaporize due to an accident? Afterall, Kuro was mindful of his incompetency when handling ki. What if Ryal simply overestimated his abilities and would cause great injury to him? All of these were no less a factor, all appointing a message of terror, and creating needless fear regardless of its true caliber. Kento kept a strong gaze on his companion's palm, recognizing its details along with the energy that gathered around it. Suddenly he instinctively felt the knowledge pass through his nerves and upon these actions, Kento was applying everything that he was taught by his teacher. The traveler without fully realizing it at first was treating this as the same old repetition from all other fights. Fear and conscience played no role in this. In fact, it acted as a background process and inwardly he prepared as soon as he doubted his ability to convince Ryal. The nature of the fighter, the martial artist, began to take its toll on Kento's sense of reality. He acted despite his thoughts, and his body was quickly becoming increasingly aware, making his natural talent fully present unbeknownst to who it belongs to.

The side of Ryal's lip curled upward a bit, "My father pushed me through this kind of thing. I think it'll do well for you." He said, charging a small orb of energy at the end of his hand. Kento felt that it was an attempt to reassure his safety, though the size of it was already enough to do that.

In mere moments, Ryal launched the small energy attack from his palm. Kento brought up his guard, keeping in mind the principles and teachings vital to the situation. In a brief moment, the orb of energy reached Kento. He brought his hands forward and began to exert his energy, feeling like he was willing it towards the incoming attack to repel its course and redirect it. Its effect was noticeable upon instant. The orb of energy's velocity took a change in quickly slowing down, and before the ball even reached his hands, it was thrown back directly towards Ryal, who could only appear delighted to see the result made despite all the doubts plastered on Kento's previous facial expression.

"Nice!" Ryal complemented, before dialing up the degree of the exercise. He extended his ki and controlled the redirected orb. He flung the orb back at Kento at a suitable distance, surprising the once relieved Kento.

The shorter man gritted his teeth and left his thoughts completely, forced to focus on the matter at hand and exert his energy once again, attempting to push back the orb sent his way, as loose sand particles kicked up from in front of him as a side effect. Ryal made sure he put more force into the small ball of energy, trying to detect Kento's limits and adopt a fair level to train at. He knew well that it wouldn't benefit him much, but he was intent on improving his companion's abilities.

The orb was affected in a more gradual fashion, wherein the ball provided greater resistance to Kento's ki. However, it was successfully reflected, be it significantly different in terms of the concentration it took than last time. Ryal took note of this and minimized the rate of increase he was using per interval. Kento adapted and quickly caught on to the point of the game. Soon his thoughts returned and his focus was no longer needed as urgently as it was prior, and the young man couldn't help but think how foolish it was in the end to fear for his life of all things.

Ryal caught the ball after a few minutes and cast it off to the side, letting the small orb of energy explode in the sand. It was quite sizeable in fact; the explosion was as large enough to consume something the size of a horse. The effect was humorous and scary at the same time in a way, considering how harmless the small ki blast appeared and what it could have potentially done to Kento had he been careless. Maybe this was what Kuro was talking about the whole 'brushing up ki skills' thing?

"That was fun. You're really learning this fast Kento." Ryal said, brushing his hands.

"I mean, it's really straightforward. You just bounce it back by concentrating energy through one point." Kento shrugged, not thinking much of the exercise itself.

"Sure, it's simple. But it took me awhile to get the hang of just feeling out my ki. You've been doing it in a matter of days." The tall lad noted.

Kento didn't respond and simply let the thought dig in. With persistent effort, he could improve his ability to manipulate his energy, and the results afterward were always rewarding. He didn't think he was very good, however, or even a fast learner. After all, it took him several hours just to see minimal progress.

"Well, let's try something else for a change," Ryal suggested, trying to switch the topic and occupy himself with something. It wasn't long, however, as he immediately thought up of another idea. "We should spar."

"Really? Again?" Kento moaned. They've been doing it for awhile and it's becoming repetitive. It's not that sparring itself was necessarily bad, but it presented a lack of creativity and wasn't going to stimulate any important training on ki manipulation.

"I dunno what to think. I just want to get better, and you to get better, really." Ryal stated.

"Alright. I have an idea then." Kento spoke up, taking off both of his wrist weights and holding them in either hand out in front of him. "We can play around with these. You take off your wrist weights too, and the goal of the game is that we keep the weights off the ground and pass them between you and me. The rule, however, is that we're not allowed to touch them either. We have to keep 'em steady and orbit it around our bodies. The trick is that once it passes the midpoint between you and I, we switch control and keep passing them around. Sound like a deal?" Kento proposed, receiving a smirk from his friend.

"I'm up for it," he replied.

"Let's do it," Kento said, slowly levitating the wrist weights off his palms using ki. Ryal did the same, once he pulled his wrist weights off and positioned them on either hand. He paid close attention to what Kento was doing to get a better picture of how the activity worked, replicating his exact movements. The smaller man approached the exercise with caution, carefully tending his weights and beginning to pass the first one around. Ryal followed suit, performing the task with a bit more ease, though still showing a fair bit of focus.

Upon the first transition, Kento found the first strikingly obvious flaw in his activity; their training weights were largely different. He immediately struggled to keep Ryal's weight afloat, and the short one suddenly found himself focusing on the single wrist weight itself. The other one he almost neglected completely, as it posed far less concern than the thing he would probably have difficulty holding in his hands. Ryal noticed the enormous disparity in weights too, as his one arm relaxed more once the transition was complete. It proved to be a much greater challenge to Kento in the end, which wasn't the original intention of the goal. He figured that because Ryal was rusty at controlling his energy, this sort of exercise would benefit his control and press Kento to further intensify his need for utilizing energy better. Instead of a perfect combination, his partner got a much easier operation to handle than he could.

However, Kento still showed his capabilities by successfully delivering the next weight over onto Ryal, who brought about his other weight, which almost sapped Kento completely. The weights fell the instant Kento felt the entire responsibility of carrying it fall on his shoulders. Theoretically, he could say the game was a good idea, but it didn't apply very well in the end.

"That probably was too much for you. You could barely hold one weight let alone two." Ryal pointed out.

"Yeah I get it. I just need to try harder."

"You have to make it a little easier."

"It's fine. I just need to increase my concentration. Let's go again."

Ryal sighed and kept his weights still in the air. Kento closed his eyes and gathered up all the ki he could personally muster, and released it upon the two heavier wrists weights. Both shook slightly, showing signs of minor effect but neither were lifted off the ground.

"Come on," Kento grumbled, straining himself to accomplish the act but to no avail. Ryal waited patiently, giving his friend a chance to revitalize the activity. There was no change, however.

"You can't do it."

Kento sighed in defeat, feeling a cloud of disappointment sweep over him like a tidal wave. He wanted better himself, especially to show off for his friend, but the frustration of not earning something and admitting to a complete failure was a hard reality to face the more he was invested into the whole training thing.

"Let's tone it down a bit," Ryal suggested, dropping Kento's weights. "These alone should do fine, but I think I have a better idea."

Kento looked up at his companion, who dropped the weights before Kento and walked back a bit. After gaining some distance, he retrieved his own weights with his ki and put them back on.

"Try hitting me with your weights. The trick is, you can't physically touch your own weights, nor are you allowed to move from your current spot. Sound like a challenge?" Ryal proposed before Kento grinned with a nod. He lifted his weights up using only his energy and began to bring them forward.

Ryal kept a close gaze on articles of clothing levitating towards him. Of course, this would be an incredibly easy task for him to handle. Kento, on the other hand, would be hard pressed to accomplish anything. He would need to constantly push himself further beyond to do anything of worth, which can be considered good in way. Any sort of approach to this nearly impossible to-do feat for Kento is considered an improvement to his control in ki.

"I'm back boys. What's going on here?" Kuro stepped in, shutting the house door behind him.

Ryal and Kento halt the instant they heard their instructor's voice, shifting their heads towards the large bulky man entering the scene.

"Ki training, huh?" Kuro said, approaching his students with an intrigued look. "Go on. Pretend I'm not here."

Both of them nod and returned to what they were doing. Ryal easily avoided the training weights moving back and forth, while Kento struggled to control the direction of the weights from an uncomfortable distance. Kuro watched Kento like a hawk, investigating his technique from the ins and outs.

"Good job on utilizing the flow of your energy, but stop treating it like a continuous stream of ki like a rope extracted from a spool. Eventually, it'll be too far out of your reach. Always aim for compensations to boost efficiency, else you'll lose too much stamina." Kuro directed.

Kento took note and began his corrections, adjusting the flow of his ki to keep propelling the weights to where he wants them to go, and inevitably increased the speed of the clothes. Nonetheless, none of them even graced Ryal's body but the advice gave him much better control over the objects. Kuro's eyebrow rose a bit, surprised to see the fast results it gave.

"Whatever you did, it's working," Ryal stated, swerving around the incoming projectiles that kept circling around and coming back towards him.

"Enough of this game. It's time I talk to you about a few things. Kento, put your weights back on." Kuro ordered, before receiving two nods. The shorter trainee did as he was told, and put his weights back on.

"So there's obviously going to be a time limit to this training. We only have so much time before the west capitulates completely and the Arcosians turn on us and the rest of the world. So here's the deal. I will brief you on various ki principles such as sensing and its uses. After that, it's up to you to decide how you'll use it, because I will force you to undergo some even more intense training. I expect the two of you to be far beyond what you are now in the following months. Understood?"

Ryal and Kento nod without protest.

"Good. Know that from here on out, your life is now on the line. If you're incapable of dealing with me, then you will be incapable of handling yourselves with this upcoming war. If you die, it's your fault, and nobody will turn around to look out for you. What the two of you need is strength and experience, and eventually I'll assign you some training partners to test out your progress midway. I will keep adding to your weights to keep you on your toes, and soon enough I will release you two. By then, you will move north to Cevine where you will meet up with someone to recruit you." Kuro explained.

Ryal and Kento nod once again, this time more hesitantly. In a sense, the seriousness was somewhat exciting in its own right. The feeling of progress, and this newfound strength, only meant an entirely new type of adventure they will eventually embark on with completely different goals this time. Kento could only imagine the kind of looks his childhood friends and family, and above all, old enemies would have if they could see the kind of power he's obtained, which is only going to get higher. Sure it's ugly, and frightening at its very core, but under these circumstances where they could make a difference is what was truly great. No matter how ambitious and unlikely it is, there was no doubt in his mind that success was something worth aiming for, especially if it meant protecting his loved ones. Kento grinned. His heart pumped with excitement. He was ready.

"It's time to get started." Said Kuro.

 **. . .**

Sheryl slowly opened an eye, hazy and confused. Her eyes drifted back and forth, unable to make out anything in the complete darkness. She sat still for a while, regaining her consciousness. The first thing she could do was to attempt getting over her massive headache, where she was entirely focused on being in full control of herself and not half asleep. Eventually, the girl realized she was resting on a cold hard ground, presumably stone or concrete of some sort. The Saiyan got up and began to look around, barely noticing the traces of light coming in from one direction. However, it was hard to make out and for all she knew, it could be a delusion. She crawled around the cold floor, squinting her eyes as hard as she could to confirm her suspicions. Eventually, she got closer to the light, only to bump her head against a few bars of steel unintentionally. The noise rang across the area, echoing fairly deep into the darkness. Sheryl's heart skipped a beat, as any instance of her mistakenly revealing her presence over the past few days was a threat to her well-being.

She grabbed hold of two of the steel poles, peering around and finding light come from one hand of a hallway that was blocked off. Immediately, she figured she was imprisoned and attempted to bend open the steel poles, but to no avail. She couldn't break free. Why? She looked around, only seeing nothing as the space behind her was far too dark for her to make out any details. Suddenly, she attempted to stand up, only finding great difficulty in doing so. Somehow, her strength was completely sapped. She didn't know how or why, but she was practically powerless and couldn't figure out why. Sheryl sighed felt her way around the room, finding nothing. She was trapped in a dark, empty room with nothing but herself and the clothes she wore. Sheryl sat down up against a wall.

"It's no use." A voice spoke, deep and masculine, echoing across the prison and coming from the other side of the wall she leaned on. Sheryl made no response, still confused and increasingly frustrated. She suddenly had no power, and for a reason, she couldn't even hope to figure it out. She couldn't see a damn thing at all.

"They come in with a bit of food every now and then. I dunno why they don't just come in and end our lives already." Another spoke, received by another moment of dead silence. To Sheryl, the room may as well have been empty since there was no livelihood around.

"So who's the new guy?"

Sheryl's ears perked up as she heard this. New guy? Weren't they referring to her? After all, they probably couldn't see anything here, which would explain the 'guy' part.

"Yeah. Isn't the war zone hundreds of miles off? I thought prisoners in Getsus were taken somewhere else."

"Maybe he was rebelling here in Terrinosis?"

"That's dumb. They already took it by now. We were the last line of defense, remember?"

A discussion soon came up on the whereabouts of where Sheryl came from, which soon turned the environment from a silent chamber to an overloaded, pointless debate.

"You're all wrong." Sheryl interrupted, leaving a temporary moment of silence.

"Is that a girl?" One man said.

"What's a girl doing here?"

"Probably the same reason as to why you're here," Sheryl responded.

"You mean, you fought them too?" Another asked.

"Are you nuts?" A man retorted from one end of the prison, causing more commotion in the room.

"Look. I came from Seadra and used those lizards as punching bags for training. In the end, I stole their food which thankfully, was mostly edible. Then I was knocked out cold and brought here. Is that a good enough explanation for all of you? Can you all shut up now?" Sheryl stated angrily.

"... Seadra? Aren't you a Saiyan?"

"Well she's kicking some Arcosian ass! Does that make her on our side?"

"Hey! Seriously shut your mouths! Some of us are trying to get some shut-eye in here."

Sheryl groaned and rolled her eyes, shaking her head at herself for thinking that it was going to work. Maybe if she kept quiet, they would eventually lose interest and stop talking so frequently, which is all she needed. Nonetheless, the arguments still continued for awhile, until things became quieter. Sheryl closed her eyes and began to sleep, knowing that she could at least try to let the time pass by a little better. Her previous plan didn't work exactly how she wanted, and her future didn't particularly stand well. She could only think about her previous experiences where she had more freedom.

The villages had little to offer. Not many people around really stuck out to her in fact. Her bosses sucked. She didn't talk to a lot of people in the end. Her jobs weren't really that great, but they were tolerable. Overall, a lot of her life was aimed at simply making a living for herself, and isolating herself from the other Saiyans. Instead, she took enjoyment out of taking advantage of the weaker and vulnerable wanderers that dared to cross the deserts of Seadra. During those times, she was undoubtedly a bandit in its purest form, aside from the fact that she worked alone. For some reason, working alone felt the most suitable and comforting. She didn't ever have to compensate for someone else's need or step out of her comfort zone for the sake of others. There was nothing compelling about it. Why reduce yourself just for others? It's just damaging, is it not?

Regardless, there were the few that she sometimes thought about, like that one she captured briefly before moving to a village. It wasn't rare that many men were infatuated with her looks, but it's something else entirely when someone asks for her name out of some other interest. From that one weak and feeble human, she received vibes of someone who was more interested in her than her looks, which was a new one. It didn't really matter, though, nor did she know what the true intention was, but she couldn't help but return the interest with a bit of small talk. The human presented a different, more distinct kind of interest that she felt the urge to discover a little more about. In fact, she could say that she regretted not asking for his name. It would've only been fair.

Instead, their conversations went nowhere and were short-lived before his stupid friend came in. She'll never forget the day she lost to the blond kid. There's nothing more frustrating than wanting to train and overcome this abomination of a loss, only to realize that she is and forever will be as capable as a sheep. How pitiful her existence really ended up being. She lived a terrible life, and it was mostly her fault. What a joke. It all became a really pointless thing. Why even bother.

Sheryl's eyelids slid open. She couldn't sleep. Even though she had no problems sleeping in terrible conditions before in her life, she was having problems now. Why was this happening? It all didn't make sense. Something was eating at her, like she wasn't satisfied with something and she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

Continuously, again and again, Sheryl kept trying. Sleep was impossible. Something was preventing her from resting. All she could do was think about her past; this was something she didn't often do. Her mind kept racing and kept a lot more active than she usually lets it be. Hours passed by, and never did her consciousness leave her. Instead, she began to shiver in the low temperatures of the prison, and familiarize herself with the darkness she was surrounded by. The hard ground only made it less comforting as time went by.

But then the moment came, where food finally arrived.

A blinding light came from the end of the hallway. A light so bright, that the figure that stepped on through was only a rough silhouette half concealed by the glares that shot her way if she dared to even look near it. However, the figure didn't appear right, as the footsteps were not that of a lizard, but of a man followed by no one. Sheryl's eyes widened, and with every bit of effort, she tried to recognize the one who stepped into the prison, only to lack a resolve to her question.

A steel bar snapped within the next moment, just as the footsteps drew as near as they could. Sheryl quickly drew back and instinctively brought her arms up to protect herself. However, in the midst of crawling away and backing herself into the corner of her cell, she suddenly felt relief; her energy and warmth flowed through. Her senses immediately heightened, and now she could see the color in the room. The room was suddenly no longer incredibly dark. It was by no means, bright enough to allow her to make out the marks on the bricks or minute details on the floor, but she could tell where she was going purely by sight. A smile hit her lips as she stood up and felt her energy come back to her.

Other steel bars in the prison room snapped, and many of the prisoners piled out of their chambers, all of which were human fighters who fought to protect their country. Sheryl attempted to make her escape right there and then but was halted by a hand grabbing hold of her shoulder.

"Don't," the man ordered, before going back to his business of freeing the prisoners. Sheryl froze for a very brief moment, still in a state of daydreaming before snapping out of it.

"What do you mean?" Sheryl retorted.

"You mustn't wander off by yourself when you have no clue how to navigate through this place."

The soldiers were all finally rescued in due time, while Sheryl sat near the exit of the prison. The rescuer came back to the front, halting next to Sheryl and catching her attention.

"We're going to talk once this is over." He whispered, before going to the exit door. "Follow my lead and do not dare to make a single noise. Got it?"

The crowd responded with a few nods and gestures, while Sheryl simply waited for the man to lead the way. She as much as everyone else wanted out, but she ultimately wanted to get by on her own terms in the end of all this.

The man slowly opened the door and peered his head out, looking both ways before gesturing the rest to follow. He exited the door and pressed up close to the wall, steadily inching his way down the hallway with all of his attention focused on any potential threat, typically detected by sound and any subtlety that he may find. Sheryl came close behind, and along behind her with the rest of the prisoners.

After trespassing many rooms and hallways, the leading man halted before a doorway, checking a window that was positioned right beside it. To his dismay, he found the presence of a few soldiers guarding the entrance to the building, where the night was at its peak and many of the outdoor areas were now lit up with lights. He quickly turned back and took a deep breath, looking down the hallway to see all of the prisoners following suit.

"We're gonna have a tough time getting through this." The man stated, attempting to figure out a solution to this roadblock. Out of curiosity, Sheryl stepped forward and peeked out the window, noticing the problem they ended up facing. She took a step back afterward, taking a moment to devise a plan herself.

"You stay here. I will handle this myself." He spoke quietly, before heading out of the door and shutting it quickly. Sheryl immediately poked her head out of the window, noticing a brief skirmish occur just outdoors. In a flash, however, the two guards were knocked out cold by devastating strikes. She was shocked, to say the least, to see the man move at an incredible speed. He looked like a blur just whizzing by like some sort of fog. Such speed was a rare find, and all she did was leave herself in paralysis just by witnessing it.

"Come on. We have to hurry." The man insisted, opening the door once again. Sheryl nodded and exited the large building, along with the other troops that remained close behind. In mere moments, after traveling close along walls and alleyways, they found an opening between the massive outer city wall and the building they hid behind.

"Time to dig a tunnel. There's too much security to deal with if we go over it instead." The leader insisted, before kneeling down and forcefully sticking his hands into the ground. He dug a quick hole fairly fast, and soon opened a viable entrance into the ground and led the way. Sheryl quickly entered the hole without question, while the soldiers looked back at each other in a bit of confusion.

"Well, it's all we got." One stated. The rest shrugged and the next man took the first turn and went inside the hole. Soon afterward, many followed.

Within the next hour, they were all successfully rescued, quickly and cleanly. They all remained a few miles outside the city border, where they were out of sight from any of the guards camping atop the outer walls in their command posts. Commotion quickly took over, as the soldiers talked amongst themselves for the time being. Sheryl stood quietly up against a tree, thinking about her next steps to take in this life of stealing in the west. She didn't contemplate anything about moving back to the desert at all. She hated it there, and there was a perfect opportunity to exploit the west's weakness while it was ravaged by war.

As she thought to herself, she saw someone stand directly in front of her, catching her attention. She looked up at the man, realizing that he had something to say to her, as he notified her earlier before the breakout.

"You have something to say?" She asked, sounding a bit bored.

"You were on the news earlier, y'know that?"

"I was?" Sheryl exclaimed.

"Mhm. And my boss seeks mercenaries to recruit. He saw your potential and wants to have a word with you." The man said, leaving the young woman to think about the opportunity. Mercenary? Sounds like a lot of fun. In fact, it's what she wanted all along, ideally.

Sheryl smirked, "Take me to your boss."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Here's the other chapter. I'll be focused on revising the previous chapters now to get rid of all the errors now. Feedback would be much appreciated.

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

The impact of a strike grinding up against his gut forced the air out of his lungs, sending him far back. The wind resistance brushed against his back hard enough for his outgrown hair to fly forward and blind his peripheral vision. He landed on a slope of sand, carving out a track where he blew the ground off to the side and continued to fly back from the sheer force of the hit. As his inertia remained unstoppable, he slapped both of his hands onto the ground, allowing him to leap high into the air and recover the instant he fell and planted his bare feet down. The young man looked back up at his incoming foe, who persisted after him without a moment to spare. He smiled, and propelled himself off the ground, connecting with his opponent in another frenzy of punches and kicks. They disconnect again after an unintentionally performed cross-counter, before bouncing off the ground and closing the distance yet again.

At the same time, a similar brawl took place just nearby between two other fighters respectively, displaying similar feats of speed and strength in their bout. Kuro watched from the sidelines with his arms crossed, paying close attention to the technique of their attacks, their use of ki and defensive strategies. He took mental notes of them all. His two students, Kento and Ryal, were facing off against two commoner Saiyans in the nearby village, particularly ones with well-endowed strength and fearsome fighting prowess. The ones he elected as sparring partners for this particular sessions were Saiyans with above average fighting ability, possessing power levels that are higher than normal. His students, on the other hand, were severely held back with weights that progressively got higher over the past ten months. They each grew stronger, and by the time they became strong enough to take on every Saiyan in the village, Kuro increased their weights marginally, hence the struggle to overcome their opponents became more difficult.

Unfortunately for them, their training was coming to an end. With the west nearing its defeat at last after many given attempts to prolong the eventual war, there was no more doubt that they couldn't spend any more of their precious time training. Kuro knew this was the last day, and he figured the best way to spend it was starting with a warm up before he'll intervene himself.

"That's enough!" Kuro barked, halting the training session immediately. Ryal and Kento appeared before their instructor upon the command being received. The other Saiyans appeared off in the distance, before kneeling and taking deep breaths. To their dismay, they already adapted to the training weights and gained advantage throughout their fight. One in particular cursed at himself while taking deep breaths over their overexertion from the previous battle.

"That's it for today. You two can go now." Kuro shouted over to the Saiyans.

"Dammit. At least give us a few more minutes." One protested.

"I don't care. Your presence isn't needed." Kuro responded.

Reluctantly, the Saiyans flew off for the town, knowing they couldn't argue with Kuro who had the strength to snap them like twigs.

"Why did you end it so early?" Ryal asked, showing a bit of a disappointed attitude. Over the course of the ten months, he grew a minor chin curtain with an even more radical mophead than before. Kento's hair grew out as well, having it grow down to his shoulder without any uniformity to it. The two looked like cavemen.

"Because today is your last day," Kuro answered.

"So does that mean we're done training with you?" Ryal replied with a concerned tone. He looked over to Kento, who returned the same look. Both were suddenly caught off guard over the news.

"Almost. I require the two of you to take off all your weights." Kuro ordered.

Kento and Ryal didn't protest the command one bit, as they both dropped their wrist weights along with their ankle weights. Almost comically, they were nearly engulfed by the sand due to the sheer weight that caused it to sink into the ground. As Kento witnessed this, he reached down to pick it up again before Kuro grabbed it first.

"I'll take it back to the house. Just stretch a little bit. You'll need it."

Kento and Ryal nodded in unison before tending to themselves, doing simple stretches to pass the time.

"What do you think he wants us to do?" Kento asked Ryal.

Ryal sat down and reached for his toes, contemplating the thought briefly, "He probably wants us to spar him or somethin'. That or he just wants to know how far we've gotten since this is the last day and all."

Kento grinned faintly, "I figured the same thing too. Ultimately, if we're doing stretches like this, it means we're gonna have to fight him two on one."

"Yeah," said Ryal, as the two became silent for the following moment. They both thought to themselves about what was to come next after their training was completed. They knew well that their strength achieved entirely new levels over the past months, but it was a big step to think that they were ready to go on their own and fight in the war.

"Honestly, I feel a lot better after taking off those weights," Ryal noted as he continued his stretches, throwing a few test kicks around to get a feel for being light again.

"Dude, you just relieved yourself of a couple thousand pounds. What did you expect?" Kento said.

"I know that, but my body feels… Less restricted." Ryal stated.

"What do you mean?" Kento responded.

"Try gathering your ki."

Kento shrugged and began to charge up his energy, feeling it rise with much greater ease. Out of curiosity, he formed a ball of ki in his hand, seeing it appear much faster than it usually does, and with greater power behind it.

"The weight restricts our ki abilities?" Kento pondered, bewildered at the feeling of his energy coming out a lot more naturally.

"I think so," Ryal replied.

Minutes later, Kuro returned, confronting the two young travelers with a smirk on his face. Both Kento and Ryal stopped their stretching period, standing at attention in the presence of their master.

"Alright, now I'm sure you know what's coming next. But first, I need you two to release all of your energy." Kuro insisted, staring down at them with his arms crossed.

"Release all of our energy?" Kento repeated, a bit confused over what he meant by it.

"I want you to charge up all of your energy, not attack with it. All you need to do is simply muster up everything you got from within. It'll take a moment or two since you haven't tapped into your full power in ages." Kuro explained further, prompting Ryal to adopt a deeper stance. Kento glanced over to his companion to knew exactly what Kuro meant. He took action, and he too took a stance before raising his energy levels.

"Search deep. For the longest time you've been ignorant of what you're capable of because of your weights. I installed ki nullifiers in both of them to not only keep you two at an even level, but to prevent yourselves from slaughtering your sparring partners. Now you must recover from this restriction and fully understand what you're capable of. This is extremely important to know, as you two will need to be able to recognize how strong your foe is when picking your battles." Kuro stated.

"This is hard." Kento groaned, grimacing as he tried to increase his power. Even outside of training, he constantly wore the training weights just as his partner did. When they ate, rested, and even slept, all this time he was unaware that he was being restricted for the sole purpose of training. Now that he knew, and could even feel his power far too dormant for him to grab hold of completely, Kento struggled with the task. Ryal also had similar problems trying to do the same thing.

"You're getting there. Just keep trying." Kuro encouraged.

Eventually, the two gave in at the same time, inhaling and exhaling excessively afterward. Kento managed to show a bit more success than Ryal, allowing him to close the gap in strength a bit more than what it would normally be. In the end, they showed off a radical, fire-like aura that rushed out of their skin and encompassed the entire body. Their powers increased dramatically over time, and yet it still wasn't their full potential.

"So you can't tap into it yet. Well, I can't say I'm disappointed. Your current strengths are much higher than when you first came here, especially you Kento. And yet you're still not at your peaks." Said Kuro, dropping his arms to his side and getting into a sitting stance. "Now let's see how well you apply your newfound power! Don't hold back!"

Kento and Ryal entered their fighting stance without a word. Ryal smirked and briefly looked over to his friend, who progressed to the point of almost being even with him, despite having tapped into more of his potential than he could. He remembered the days where Kento was weak and vulnerable. Now he had much greater strength, and his confidence rose too; his demeanor transformed.

"Ready?" Kento asked the blond man, expressing a grin of excitement. Ryal smiled and turned back towards their instructor.

"Yeah."

"Let's go!" Kento cried out, charging straight forward towards their adversary. Kuro pulled up his guard and waited for Kento's assault to take place. Ryal charged from straight behind his friend, keeping close and coordinated for the attack. Right as Kento closed the distance and got within melee range, he threw the first punch directed at Kuro's cheek, which was blocked by his forearm. After throwing the punch, Kento followed up with a turn side kick sent towards the large man's abdomen, which was also parried. Ryal soon followed up with a strike of his own; he fired a barrage of jabs towards Kuro's chest and midsection, each of which was parried away or dodged. Together, both Kento and Ryal pursued with more attacks, ranging from knife hands to punches to kicks all swirling around, each dodged, blocked and parried. They pressed on, however, hoping for a successful landing blow.

"Is this it!? You can do better!" Kuro shouted in the midst of the fighting before countering with a swift side kick dealt to Ryal's chin, knocking him far away from the close encounter. Kento saw an open opportunity and went for a hook towards Kuro's chin, leaping up from the ground just to reach it. Before it could land, Kuro zipped his gaze back towards Kento and simply bobbed his head to the side before sneaking an elbow directly under the short man's extended arm, crushing him with a hard blow to the solar plexus. Kento felt a disturbing ache in his stomach as his instructor knocked the wind out of him, and sent him sliding across the ground up until he slew down on an upward sandy dune.

Once he stopped completely, Kento leaned up and began to cough out, still trying to recover from the single blow. He looked up back towards Kuro, who was concentrated on repelling Ryal's attack who must've recovered much faster from the hit he took. Ryal went in for a crescent kick, only to find Kuro disappear on sight, which seemed extraordinary. A man of that size to suddenly move so fast that he couldn't be detected? Kento began looking up and around, looking for his adversary in order to perform a counter attack. As he began looking the other direction, Kento turned around back to where Ryal was, who was just as perplexed as he was. The bulky man suddenly reappeared behind the blond fighter, preparing to fire a devastating kick. Kento's eyes widened as he immediately jumped up at the sight of him.

"Look out, Ryal!" He called out, prompting his friend to turn his head around and notice the strike coming in. It was too late, however, as he threw the kick far too quickly for it to be dodged. Luckily, Ryal managed to bring his guard up and allow the force of it all to be absorbed in the arms. Regardless, the tall warrior was sent flying by the sheer power of the attack he endured.

In the following instant, Kento threw a front kick towards the unsuspecting Kuro, who simply sidestepped the attack without even looking. Before Kento could even follow up with another hit, Kuro fired a reverse roundhouse kick and planted his foot onto the small man's ribcage, firing him back a great distance away.

Kento gritted his teeth as the pain was becoming even more excessive, and slowly he halted himself mid-flight before charging back in. He did his best at trying to cope with the pain he endured, intending on going for at least one more try despite its zero chance of success. He then noticed Ryal propel himself high into the air in the middle of his recovery, and prepared to charge up a massive energy attack. Kento grinned when he noticed this, and decided to act as a distraction.

Kuro turned around and noticed Kento flying in fast, prepared to end his participation in the battle once and for all. However, the short man quickly changed directions and began to encircle Kuro with various afterimages.

"You're too slow if you think you'll pull anything off with that," Kuro stated, shooting a glare towards Kento in midst of his rapid movements. This gave him a warning, and Kento decided to compensate by beginning to fire ki blasts from different waypoints. Kuro reflected the first one back, only to feel one set off on his backside and cause him to stumble forward. He cursed himself for that one, and he increased his focus on dealing with Kento's passive assault by repelling his attacks and eventually dodging them. After a few seconds, Kuro hopped back repeatedly from an incoming barrage of ki attacks, wherein several explosions were set off directly at his feet which he narrowly dodged. Kento found himself concealed behind the numerous explosions that were kicked up from the many ki blasts that connected with the ground, allowing an opportunity to sneak behind his adversary and prepare for a surprise attack. Kento swiftly flew over the cloud of debris and landed behind the preoccupied Kuro and charged in with a flying side kick to his backside. To his dismay, the large man already anticipated this and caught the foot with ease.

"Fool! Only amateurs rely on their eyesight! Use your ki sense!" He spat, before cranking his arm back and landing a powerful haymaker onto Kento's cheek. The force of the blow was enough to create a sonic boom effect to occur just as the fist connected, and almost in an instant Kento crashed through a hill of sand and caused a large chunk of it to kick up into the air before being halted by hitting the hill behind it.

Meanwhile, Ryal threw his palms forward, releasing a massive red energy wave downwards before curving it just above the ground in a parallel position and closing it in on the bulky Saiyan. Before Kuro could realize that he had ignored Ryal the entire time, he partially managed to turn around and wedge his arm between himself and the energy wave before taking on the full weight of the attack. He was still pushed back, however, as he dug his feet into the sand to maintain a strong ground. Kuro gritted his teeth, bringing up his other arm and pressing his hand up against the edge of the ki wave. Eventually, Ryal stopped exerting his energy into the attack, and Kuro successfully withstood it. Needless to say, there were marks on his shoulder where it withstood the brunt of it all.

"Shit." Ryal sighed, having put a great deal of effort into that attack. Kuro smirked and dashed forward, leaping up high at the right moment. He minimized the gap between him and Ryal before flipping forward and bringing a foot down onto his head, causing the blond man to crash straight into the ground and trigger a shockwave upon impact. A large, round crater formed where he landed. Kuro levitated down to the very edges of it fairly slowly. He gave the blond lad a moment to recover, watching the wounded fighter climb to his feet sluggishly.

"I felt that one," Kuro stated in a slightly annoyed tone. Ryal slouched after getting to his feet, looking over at the large man that stood at the edge of the crater.

"You're too strong and fast. I put everything I got into that move and yet you simply brushed it off. And here I am, crippled after getting hit a few times." Ryal moaned, continuing to breathe heavily due to high exertion.

"Is that what you're gonna say to your opponent when he dominates you? Come on! Have some pride! Think about your role model, and what he would do if he were put into your shoes!" Kuro barked, crossing his arms yet again.

Ryal suddenly drew himself out of reality and gazed at the falling sand particles sliding down the sides of the crater. His father would certainly never give up in this situation. In fact, his father would motivate him similarly to what Kuro was doing at that exact moment. When facing hardship, and going against all impeccable odds, it's imperative to keep vigilant and maintain a calm mind. Never let emotions poison judgment; these were words passed down directly from his father, and the demeanor shown here by his current master strongly resembled that of his father's persona.

"So are you just gonna stand there? Because if you do, you'll be damn sure to find yourself in the next dimension!" Kuro cried out, powering up a ki blast in his right hand and holding it far back.

The blond man crouched into a deeper stance, flaring his aura as he did so. He let out a war cry as he attempted again to charge his energy and bring out the dormant potential that still remained locked and untapped within. All it required was more effort and willpower. All it needed was the right mind and determination to pull it off.

"That's more like it!" Kuro exclaimed, tossing the charged ki blast forward, emitting a brightness enough to create a shadow behind Ryal even in the midst of the day under the deep blue sky.

"Haa!" Ryal cried, shooting his palms forward and halting the ki attack in place. Almost instantly he was pushed back, scraping his feet across the ground and building up globs of sand behind his heals. He continued to let out war cries as he desperately tried to repel the ki attack but to no avail. Numbness swept through his arms like a blanket, and his legs began to shake vigorously. Ryal found himself staring at the ground, feeling sweat drip down his cheeks as he was put through such intensity. He focused on trying to bring out his latent energy, but working it out became incredibly difficult as he invested all of his focus into holding back the massive ki blast.

Just as he felt his body tremble, another force soon took his place. Ryal looked to his right, where his companion came in at the last moment. Kento grabbed hold of the ki blast and used every inch of effort he could into repelling the ki blast. He himself couldn't pull it off, and it was obvious that he was wounded and weakened having taken several of Kuro's skull-crushing hits. Regardless, he stuck by his friend and did everything he could.

"Come on buddy. Y'know I can't push this back myself." Kento groaned.

Ryal nodded and engaged with the ki attack again, pressing his hands up against the energy ball and pushing as hard as he could. Within the next moment, they barely managed to reflect it up into the sky, letting out a loud, strenuous groan as they did so.

Kento and Ryal sighed heavily, both kneeling down and exhaling deeply. Both had lost practically all feeling in their arms and decided to take a moment to rest. However, Kuro sent another, smaller ki blast their way, alerting them before they quickly leaped out of the way and escaped the explosion it caused.

"Don't ever let your guard down like that. It's not over yet." Kuro lectured, watching each of his students land just outside the crater.

"Damn, I think I'm starting to get dizzy," Kento muttered, going down on one knee. Ryal, on the other hand, slouched over and didn't even have his hands up.

Kuro chuckled, "You two are at your limits. It's during these times that it's most important that you keep your head up, because it'll happen to you at some point, and it'll be the deciding factor between life and death. So how will you act in this situation?"

Ryal and Kento made no response, only making an effort to keep an eye on their foe, who could attack at literally any second. Survival became a bigger priority than putting up a solid fight at this point, considering the great disparity in strength between them.

"Well?" Kuro said, glancing between the trainees back and forth.

Kento reluctantly got up from kneeling and slowly brought up his arms. Noticing this, Ryal followed suit and adopted a fighting stance. A brief silence soon took place, where Ryal and Kento prepared themselves for another deadly assault to arrive.

"Alright. That's enough." Kuro decided, allowing his students to fall over and rest.

"Geez. I thought I was gonna end up six feet under." Kento joked, feeling a sense of relief finally take place.

"I can't feel my arms," Ryal whined, dropping down completely and laying his head back against the sand. He rested a hand on his belly while pumping his chest full of air with his exasperated breathing.

"You both did very well. I'm still far stronger than you both, but you still fought valiantly and without fear. And so I conclude that I have trained you quite well." Kuro remarked, turning around and waving his students to follow. Sluggishly, and reluctantly, both Ryal and Kento got to their feet like elderly people climbing out of their beds.

"You two still have vast room for improvements. The first task you'll need to take immediately is at least one hour of meditation each day without your weights on. Keep doing this, as it'll boost your abilities to tap into your full strength without requiring a great deal of effort. On the flipside, you should continue to wear your own weights at all times and periodically increase the threshold. It's currently your best method of getting stronger quickly." Kuro instilled, approaching the back door of the hut and swinging it open.

Ryal and Kento soon followed their instructor into the house, wiping off sand particles off their training uniforms before entering the indoors. They decided to take a seat, as the first thing that was on their mind was a good deal of rest. They sunk into the cushions without any sense of regret and treasured the feeling of relief deeply, soaking up every ticking second they could appreciate during such a rare occasion that they could indulge in basic luxury. It was all they had for the past eleven months. Outside of bedrest, what else could the nourish them with?

"Rest up boys. You both did well to get this far." Kuro added, easing the mindsets that both of the trainees had.

Ryal let out a minor chuckle amidst his resting. His eyes were closed and his head laid all the way back to the point where his nose stuck upwards.

"Sounds like we're still alive, huh?" Kento muttered to his friend, receiving a slightly louder chuckle in response from Ryal.

"You'll get the rest of the day to rest up and do whatever you want. Tomorrow, you'll be leaving to go on your own journeys, except by one personal request that I have for you." Kuro went further, entering the kitchen and preparing another meal. He pulled out several pounds worth of dead meat and vegetables out of the fridge that was caught by his students the other day. He placed the ingredients onto the counter while the young men listened attentively. "After you grab enough shit to sustain yourselves on your trip, go to Cevine and win some tournament money. Enter the very first open division that you see when you get there, and you'll be sure to go up in the ranks and earn some prize money. Trust me, you'll be able to make it by with it."

"You're talking about a fighting tournament, right?" Ryal asked, remembering that his father lived off of prize money for a good chunk of his life.

"Yup."

"So you're not going to make us enlist or something after all that?" Kento questioned, finding the sentiment to be a bit odd.

"I already trust that you'll get to doing that thing on your own. Besides, it's the ultimate test of what kinda man you are. Cowards always run, and the brave always chase their genuine desire. You both have personal reasons for why you'd want to go out west and fight, and that's why I trained you. What kind've use it'll end up being in the end is completely out of my influence." Kuro answered, turning on the stove and beginning to cook the meals.

Kento pondered the thought for a moment, beginning to realize the kind of responsibilities he'll bear on this fight. It's really all a choice, and he gets to choose what path he wants to make. His instructor can't instruct him on how to live his life, but only to grow stronger and acquire a bit of wisdom.

"So a little freedom, eh? I like it." Ryal grinned, looking over to Kento. "Guess it's just us two, right Kento?"

Kento nodded, "Right."

"That reminds me. How long do you think it'll take us to get to Cevine?" Ryal brought up.

"Not very long. With your training weights on and everything, I bargain an hour longest." Kuro stated.

"An hour!?" Kento questioned.

"It won't take you long to travel a little under ten thousand kilometers at your level. You're just not used to the idea of going that fast over long distances." Kuro explained.

"I guess," Kento replied, letting his thoughts trail off during the moment of silence that followed.

"I'm just happy we ended up being this lucky," the blond man said, breaking the silence. "I mean, there's just so much out there. I want to be prepared for it all. Just off by ourselves, my peak was barely enough to contend with the Saiyans that lived around here. Now, things are different."

"The world is bigger than you think kid," Kuro responded in the midst of his cooking. "Let me talk to you about something real quick."

Ryal and Kento adjusted their attentions towards Kuro, who set a timer after placing something in the oven. He then strolled over to the area where the young warriors sat, leaning over the back of a chair that remained adjacent to the couch the two sat on.

"Ryal. Tell me your father's name."

The blond lad lifted his head off the couch, staring directly at Kuro, "His name is Rodrick."

"Does it so happen to be Rodrick Flint?" He investigated further.

Ryal nodded his head, "How'd you figure that out?"

"You look a lot like him," Kuro said flatly with a shrug. He then looked over to Kento. "I was right all along," he added as a side note, reflecting back on the conversation they had briefly when they first met. "That's the reason why I brought you in here to train in the first place. You're like the spitting image of him when he was in his youth, maybe with the exception of you being skinnier. Now, both you and I are aware of the kind of things your father did, yes?"

Ryal nodded, "He was really good at martial arts."

"Not just 'good'. He was a champion. The man excelled at literally everything that involved a fight. It was even more obvious to tell when you fought due to the way you fight. Your style strongly resembles his. And hell! The last thing I could ever expect is to see the son of one of the most legendary warriors stroll into some backwater bar looking for a snack to eat. All I saw then was a golden opportunity, and now? Heh, well. I often asked myself if your father was a one-hit wonder or just a member of a really lavish bloodline. Y'know what? I'm still troubled with that question even after all these months."

Kento suddenly met with a slight frown, quickly turning to his friend to see his reaction just out of sheer curiosity. However, Ryal didn't express any negative emotions upon hearing that. Besides him, Kento was the only one in the world who knew the guy's desire to become great like his father. Maybe it all just went straight over his head?

"Just letting you know kid, your father is out there somewhere, fighting. Knowing him, he's tearing it up in the west. I'm sure you want to see him bad, and I'm certain he wants you to become the greatest you can be."

"You sound like you know him," Ryal said.

Kuro returned the statement with a smirk, "You bet,"

The large man returned to the kitchen, leaving the two to wait for supper. They sat silently for several minutes, indulging in their own comfort and letting sleep take over soon after. The sound of constant sizzles and satisfying crackles emitted from the stove, filling the hut's silence and enveloping it with an attractive scent. And when dinner came, the two awoke. Their final day proceeds in a relaxed, tranquil evening.

. . .

Channels of smoke rose up from the scorched structures, gradually falling from its sapped foundation and torn walls. The hazardous cloud of burning ashes that collected in the sky eliminated most of the sunlight that would otherwise meet the surface, instead of enveloping the ground-level with a colorless gray scenery. The dull atmosphere lingered for days on end ever since the day of the battle arrived, where the continuously dwindling resistance fought tiredly to ambitiously protect their homeland. Many realized the futility involved, but hope shone like a bright beacon when Getsus and her people were confronted with valiant fighters blessed with talent and exhibiting fearless leadership of strength and courage. The struggle continued against the ever expansive Icean Empire. Back and forth it went, and ultimately it came to be a situation of desperation. Forced into a corner, with every bit of the crippled nation fallen except for its peoples straining itself to remain intact, the premier warriors and the dozens that back them methodically tackle their inevitable fate. In this very moment of history, bystanders possessing wealthy knowledge often predict this to be one of Getsus' last breaths before the fatal blow. The once free citizens of the west blindly choose to believe otherwise, that this is not a prolonging effort, but rather an effort to achieve victory despite the face of defeat staring deeply.

What nobody told them after all these days, weeks, and months, was that it never planned out that way. Their effort was not for them. It was for the easterners preparing to strike. And the one fighting on the frontlines fought with a message of false leadership. She was a mercenary. She had a job to fulfill. Her primary role is to lead, and secondly, she fought. The premise she was presented with was to trick them to think that she was a liberator when that was never the real cause. Instead, it was to stall.

Ten months ago, everything on her mind was for her individual self. She did not care for others. The burden of others was not her burden. Eventually, the thought of being a mercenary played out. A contract was presented, and a deal then followed. Strictly, she wanted to fight and earn money. No burden was placed. It was simply complete your job and acquire your earnings. How hard could it be?

Sheryl was bound to be a leader in this exhausted war. At the time of the job offer, the Saiyan woman recognized it to be fairly simple; aid the Getsus military and prevent the Arcosians from winning too soon. The objective was never to win, only to prevent losing. The second she proved to the humans that she was worthy to be a significant component of their side, and quickly spawn up as a figurehead in the defensive conflict between them and the Arcosians, she was a leader. As a mercenary, she would never even think of associating herself with them, but aid was in her job requirements. In all reluctance and best efforts to remain unseen by the westerners, she ended up being put on a pedestal anyway. She fell in a swoop, all the way down into a deep, unforgetful trap. The longer she fought on the side of Getsus, the more they would look up to her, and gain more courage to fight for the freedom of their nation. It was all wrong. Their nation will never be freed, and her idiocy never made her realize the kind of misleading person she was. If anything was to be frowned upon, it was deceit. No honesty. All lies.

Suddenly, in the irony of never wanting to experience anyone else's burden, she was now carrying lots of it. In one fashion or another, she'll be a bearer of bad news. It was up to her if she wanted to tell them or not, or perhaps just abandon them. It's not like she really cared anyway. All that mattered, in the end, was that she fulfilled her job and picked up her final reward.

She hid between two crumbled buildings just off to the side of a street once thriving with people. Behind her was a few soldiers that followed her everywhere she went. Peering around the corner, a few Arcosian soldiers could be seen pacing up the road. Sheryl kept a low profile, preventing any noise from occurring along with the few soldiers that stood nearby. Oddly enough, the whole idea of this stealthy ambush was more in the interest of her companion's lives rather than hers. She wasn't obligated to do this, but doing so would help out her job, in the end, so she didn't protest.

Once the Arcosian troops came close enough, the Saiyan turned her head and looked at the armored humans, each returning a nod of approval to initiate the surprise attack. Satisfied with the go-signal, she jumped out and kicked one of the Arcosians into a building on the opposite side of the street, immediately alerting the lizard-men to focus their attention on her. However, the humans jumped out as well, engaging with the enemy to initiate a full-out brawl on the street. They each pulled out their swords and hand pistols, gaining a brief upper hand until they rebounded onto the smaller human force. With the support of Sheryl, however, the numbers evened out fairly quickly.

The Saiyan woman remained puzzled after knocking out another foot soldier with a square punch to the face. Every group of Arcosians came with one to lead the pack, typically a head above the rest in terms of strength. Generally, her job was to take care of those while the grunt work goes to the humans. Oddly enough, there was no leader present. Sheryl could only fight off the weaker ones alongside the Getsus military for this occasion. The situation was rare indeed, for having no leader in the pack available was largely unnecessary and a waste of decent footsoldiers. Though the men didn't particularly have a problem with the absence of a much stronger lizard hanging around, she wasn't enthusiastic.

"Where's the tough one?" A man shouted amidst the street brawl, after slicing a head off clean with his long, unshatterable sword.

"Who knows?" Another man responded, tossing an Arcosian away and gunning him down with his hand pistol.

Sheryl grabbed an incoming punch with ease, holding the lizard in place and giving the thing's hand a squeeze. Her eyes locked with the creature as he winced from the pressure of having his hand slowly being crushed. After killing countless Arcosians, she finally caught sight of a victim in place. Even when putting these Iceans through pain, they didn't hesitate or plea for their life, unlike to all of those she robbed in her past life. Instead, his eyes countlessly wandered back and forth for any opportune moment to strike. It was no wonder that she never even received a glance of their expressions at the very brink of death; it's like they didn't even know death was a thing! Intently, she applied more pressure and watched the Arcosian tremble before here, still cold and empty as ever. They're like puppets. Every single one of them. She couldn't even bare to understand what went their minds. The very idea was almost terrifying in of itself.

She eventually brought fate into her hands and ended the Arcosian's life with a swift high lifting kick, hurling the body down the street until it reached an intersection. A big puff of smoke erupted from where it crashed into another worn down building.

"That's all of 'em." A man announced from behind her as she gazed at the lifeless body hitting the building.

"We're heading back. The fact that there was an absence of a pack leader could mean something. We must stand guard." She stated. Most of the Getsus infantry quickly hauled and arrived back at the headquarters within the next thirty seconds, while she remained on the street.

Sheryl took a seat up against the wall on the side of the street, gazing at the piles of rocks and debris. Her eyes explored the area she sat in, from the rusted windows to the dead bodies that lay to waste on the street. Casualties happened all over the place, and with the few that remained, they picked up their fallen man to put them in a place to bury. What was the point in all that? Never in her entire ten months of sitting around there did she ever come to understand such bizarre traditions. Well, one could consider the fact that they did it simply to clean up the area in which they lived. They never bothered with the dead Arcosians though, so that couldn't be it.

Two men picked up a deceased warrior after placing him on a small carrier before taking off. One halted stopped for a moment and looked at Sheryl.

"You coming ma'am?" The man asked, expressing a tone of voice that spoke volumes about the weight he must've been carrying figuratively. Death wasn't something these men took very well in the long run. She couldn't blame them either. These people had something worth fighting for, while she fought merely for herself.

Sheryl shook her head and waved the man off, watching him take off after the other soldiers. These men, with all the people they fought to protect and the ease at which they cared for each other with such open interaction, only ever led to them to a periodic series of misery and melancholy. Tears were something she often came across among them. It made no sense really. Why ever attach yourself to someone knowing that it would eventually backfire ten times worse in the end? It was so foolish.

And yet during the nights where they all rested, she tended to herself as usual, away from any company in the suit of her own interests. Occasionally, she would look back and spectate the get-togethers that happened now and then where they all gathered to have a good time. Laughter, happiness, joy, and all those things that seemed to get people getting along. She watched it all, and no less did she spectate the sad times they were brought through during war times. For them, their lives were like roller coasters while she was like a neutral line. Nothing really exciting on any meaningful level. It's why the human parties seemed so compelling in the first place.

Off in the distance, a being flew towards her general vicinity. She quickly noticed this, seeing a figure engulfed in its own aura fly at her at a great speed. Sheryl immediately got up and clenched her fists, preparing for whatever is to come. However, as the figure came closer, she noticed that the one approaching her wasn't an Arcosian, but a man rather. She eased up a bit, realizing that the man was likely not after her blood, but something else entirely.

The man set foot just a few feet away. He happened to have been the same one that broke her and a few prisoners out of captivity under the Arcosian months ago.

"You came back?" Sheryl said with a smirk.

"The boss is waiting for us in Cevine again just like last time, but this time we need to be careful not to attract any attention. Understood?" The man spoke.

"I'm no idiot. I've been fighting these guys for months now. Don't worry about me." Sheryl spat, crossing her arms. "Anyway, are you just taking me back? Is my job done here?"

"We've concluded that there is no need to let the war drag out here any longer. We've prepared everything in the east. So, yes, your job is completed."

"Great! Let's get going then before I become colorblind." Sheryl insisted, flaring her aura and preparing for takeoff. The man turned around and did the same right before they were interrupted by something.

"What's going on? And who's he?" A voice spoke from behind. Sheryl turned around and saw one of the human fighters, who commonly fought alongside her for many of their missions. She simply stared back with a blank expression, like she was caught red-handed in the middle of a robbery she committed.

"Aren't you going to tell him?" The man asked Sheryl, pulling her out of her trance. Suddenly she was frozen. Her heartbeat increased dramatically as this occurred. Out of desperation, merely to interrupt the silence that stunned her, she selected a random option within her mental response index.

"I'm just talking to my boss. It's none of your business." She replied, attempting to shoo away the stray soldier with a look of disinterest. Regardless, the human never truly left their presence, quickly vanishing behind the wall of the building.

"Boss?" The man queried, breaking the brief moment of silence.

"Whatever, messenger boy. I don't really care, let's just go." Sheryl snapped, flaring her ki at that exact moment. She didn't desire to stay any longer, hoping to peel herself out of the western front and all the people that looked up to her as swiftly as possible. The whole leadership role was detestable and annoying, to begin with.

"Wait, you're leaving!?"

Sheryl's aura dissipated as she halted, cranking her head around tentatively. The bloody soldier decided to eavesdrop?

"You said you'd stick with us the whole way! And we would help you if we did! You gave us hope!" The soldier lashed out. His voice carried enough to attract enough attention from some of the soldiers nearby, having left recently because of some casualty during the last encounter with the enemy.

Sheryl was at a loss for words, knowing that everything the man was saying was correct in every sense of the word. She did do whatever it took to recruit as many men as she could according to her contract, which did indeed include many lies. There was nothing to say other than that. What was there else to add? She had to say something before she departed. Or she shouldn't, seeing as they didn't matter anymore to her.

Sheryl opened her mouth to speak, quickly losing whatever was on her tongue, causing her to stare down pensively, incapable of speaking despite her clear intent to leave with a response.

"So you lied, huh?" The man sneered, shaking his head before strolling off in disappointment.

"Hmph. Let's just go." Sheryl insisted, flaring up her aura before taking off to the skies, with the newcomer following in close behind.

"You hesitated." The man said, flying directly beside her. She remained silent for a second, tempted to look away and avoid responding.

"You were a lot colder than this when we first found you. You must've grown attached to these people."

"Oh shut up. They can only help themselves now." Sheryl defended, feeling guilt strike her chest the more she distanced herself from them. Part of her actually wanted to stay and fight alongside them, and maybe even pull through with winning against the Arcosians as silly as it sounded.

"If it hurts that badly, we'll still be focusing in on the Arcosian threat. The only difference is that we're going to be focusing on the eastern front. Eventually, if all goes as planned, we can wipe them off the western hemisphere." He explained, receiving no response.

"We'll also be working together on this" He added, still receiving no response. A silence soon followed, where Sheryl cared not to speak a word nor reply.

"My name is Garmogin, by the way."

Sheryl paused for a moment, before speaking, "I'm Sheryl."

Garmogin let out a short-lived laugh, "I already know that."

"Well the least I could do was introduce myself." She rolled her eyes.

"Fair enough," Garmogin said, entering the clouds with Sheryl in the middle of their flight. The two remained mostly silent throughout their trip, arriving through vast amounts of horizons along the way.


End file.
